- The UNDP is providing solar box cookers and solar-powered streetlights to refugee camps in Sudan.
- The services will help reduce the environmental impacts of wood fuel demand and improve nighttime security.
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is adopting renewable energy to improve services to thousands in refugee camps across eastern Sudan. Thousands fleeing conflict in Ethiopia have strained resources in the Sudanese camp and host communities. Women have had to resort to wood fuel for their cooking needs. This demand, which has increased the felling of trees, presents an environmental challenge in the region and is also a cause of friction among host communities.
Read also: AfDB Installs Solar Energy in Refugee Camps in Burundi.
In response, the UNDP is distributing 900 solar box cookers capable of feeding five people per day Um Rakuba and Tunaydbah refugee camps. Solar-powered streetlights are also being installed in refugee camps and nearby communities. This improved lighting means that the camp’s operations can continue into the night, and health services and security in the community are improved. The projects have also created work opportunities for community members who have been employed to install the lighting in cash-for-work programmes.