Energy Access for Refugees
Overview
The number of people forced to leave their country and live as refugees, due to war and porsecution, is really high. The total number of refugees in 2013 has even exceeded the total number of refugees after World War II and is continuously rising. In 2014, UNHCR estimated that there are around 59.5 million displaced people wordldwide.
According to a report by Chatham House, 80% of the 8.7 million refugees and displaced persons in camps worldwide rely on traditional biomass for cooking and have no access to electricity. They mostly rely on the forest nearby the camps for firewood. As a result, 64,700 hectares of forest are cleared and burned every year in areas near refugees camps. In addition, women and children are mostly responsible for collecting firewood and could become a victim of rape, accidents by snake bite and so on in the forest. Thus, collecting firewood puts women and children in refugees camps in higher risk. Similarly, burning traditional biomass for cooking is one of the major cause of indoor air polution. The WHO estimates that around 20,000 displaced people die each year from indoor air pollution.[1]
This article aims to explore the potential sustainable solutions to the energy needs of refugees and displaced persons in camps by consolidating the suggestions mentioned in different publications. We welcome you to add content in this article by editing it.
Publications
This sections include the list of publications that deal with the issue of energy access for refugees :
To add further publications, simply edit this section.
Further Information
Cooking Energy in Refugee Situations - article on energypedia
