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Self Report 2017

The self-report on WHS Commitments below is organized according to the 24 transformations of the Agenda for Humanity. It is based on commitments pledged at the time of report submission. Click on the 'Expand' symbol to expand each section and read the reporting inputs by transformation.

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2D
Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves commits to working with humanitarian agencies to investigate the linkages between sexual and gender-based violence and energy access. It commits to conduct research on the protection impacts that adoption of improved cookstoves and fuels can have for crisis-affected women and girls, and to advocate for better access to fuel and household energy to ensure better health, safety, livelihoods, and food security.
  • Operational
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    There is currently insufficient data that shows how cookstove and fuel projects reduce the risk and overall frequency of gender-based violence (GBV) during firewood collection in humanitarian settings. Strengthening this evidence base could spur action among donors, policymakers, and other critical stakeholders, as well as increase the prioritization of energy access for crisis-affected people. Moreover, it could compel NGOs and humanitarian agencies to incorporate more rigorous and consistent monitoring and evaluation of this relationship in project interventions.

  • Achievements at a glance

    (1) The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (Alliance) published "Gender-Based Violence in Humanitarian Settings: Cookstoves and Fuel" in 2016, which outlines evidence and highlights gaps in knowledge on the impacts that adoption of clean and/or efficient cookstoves and fuels can have on reducing the risk and incidence of GBV in humanitarian settings. (Available: https://cleancookstoves.org/resources/473.html) The report recommends that institutions undertaking research in these settings should train implementing partners to conduct quality baseline and end-line evaluations that include GBV indicators, in order to build implementers’ capacity to properly measure and evaluate protection concerns.

    (2) The Alliance has commissioned a study to further research and evaluate the impact of a cookstove intervention on the risk and incidence of GBV in a refugee camp. The project was awarded to Plan International Spain and Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    The Alliance is working closely with Plan International Spain, Johns Hopkins University, and key stakeholders on the design and implementation of the GBV study and tracking progress through monthly conference calls.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability', what would it be

    Donor support is needed to commission further research and evaluations by humanitarian implementers and academic institutions to examine GBV-related indicators and outcomes associated with cookstove and/or fuel interventions, as well as to build the capacity of energy project stakeholders to properly measure and evaluate protection concerns.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Gender ☑ Refugees

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑3D - Empower and protect women and girls

4A
Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves commits to provide technical guidance, training, and support to humanitarian agencies to help mainstream cleaner and more efficient cookstoves and fuels into non-food item programming and distributions in accordance with The Sphere Project Handbook Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response (NFI Standard 4). Through access to cleaner and more efficient cooking technologies and fuel, it aims to reduce firewood use and improve the health, environment, safety, and livelihoods of crisis-affected populations.
  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Despite the crucial role that it plays in health, food security, protection, and other areas, energy currently holds no formal role in humanitarian response. It is not widely recognized as a priority in UN funding mechanisms or strategy development, leading to severe resource gaps and limited capacity among field practitioners. Consequently, energy access is often implemented with poor principles or neglected entirely, with dire impacts for displaced people. Mainstreaming cleaner and more efficient cookstoves and fuels into quality guidelines and best practices in aid is therefore vital to improving the lives and livelihoods of those in crisis.

  • Achievements at a glance

    (1) In December 2016, the Alliance hosted the third annual Safe Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE) Humanitarian workshop in Rwanda, where 85 practitioners across 47 NGO, private sector, and UN organizations gathered to receive training, exchange ideas, and outline plans for improving humanitarian energy access worldwide. Over a third of participants were regionally based, ensuring impact for national and local systems.

    (2) The Alliance launched the SAFE Energy Expert Roster, a group of professionals who can be deployed as needed to assist local organizations with energy interventions and build their capacity.

    (3) The Alliance mobilized financial support and raised awareness on energy access as a basic need at the World Humanitarian Summit, the UN Summit on Refugees and Migrants, and through a donor observation and learning trip to Rwanda. Consequently, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs pledged financial support to this issue.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Specific outcomes from the 2016 SAFE workshop are being assessed through pre- and post-event assessments and surveys, the results of which will be shared in Q2 / 2017. The Alliance annually monitors general progress towards the goal of mainstreaming through the following indicators:
    (1) the number of new organizations who join the SAFE Working Group or partner with the Alliance on humanitarian projects;
    (2) the number of UN or major aid agencies who incorporate cookstoves and fuels into organizational budgets and program strategies, and
    (3) the number of requests to the Alliance for cooking and fuel expertise in humanitarian settings.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    The lack of consistent funding to protracted crisis situations – both in general and specifically for energy projects – makes it difficult to pilot innovative local approaches or scale-up proven solutions. Moreover, most local NGOs and humanitarian agencies lack funding to provide or sponsor staff to attend trainings on implementing energy interventions, and even fewer have dedicated staff focusing on energy as a key topic area. Consequently, the task of promoting and supporting the energy agenda falls to a limited number of individuals distributed across the globe, and capacity among field practitioners in key aid agencies and local organizations is low.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems', what would it be

    Decision makers within UN OCHA and major aid agencies should set agency-wide strategies for incorporating energy access into humanitarian projects, including budgetary allocations. Until then, displaced people will continue to receive inconsistent assistance on energy access. The SAFE Humanitarian Working Group can assist agencies interested in developing strategies.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Food Security ☑ IDPs ☑ Refugees

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑3D - Empower and protect women and girls ☑ 4C - Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

4C
Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility

  • The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves commits to work with humanitarian agencies to innovate on technology and approaches to increasing access to household cooking energy. The majority of people in humanitarian settings use traditional biomass (primarily firewood) for cooking, which often leads to higher rates of respiratory disease, safety risks for women and girls, and deforestation. As a technology and fuel neutral public-private partnership, it commits to help humanitarian agencies set minimum standards for cookstove and fuel performance, and to support innovation on cooking technologies and fuel.


  • Operational
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    The use of open fires and traditional cookstoves and fuels is one of the world's most pressing health and environmental problems – one that displaced people disproportionately suffer from. Most of the food provided by humanitarian agencies must be cooked before it can be eaten, but cookstoves and fuel are rarely provided. Consequently, women and children must risk their safety, health, and sometimes their lives to collect fuel and cook food. By assisting humanitarian agencies to set minimum standards for cookstove and fuel performance, the Alliance helps to ensure that displaced people receive quality products that lower risks to their wellbeing.

  • Achievements at a glance

    (1) The Alliance provided technical assistance to UNHCR to develop performance and test standards for cookstove procurement in humanitarian settings. The specifications will allow UNHCR country offices to more easily procure a wide range of stoves that fit the needs of specific refugee populations, while ensuring that the products meet a minimum level of quality. UNHCR released the final standards in December 2016. Learn more: https://bit.ly/2jYOmIH

    (2) The Alliance also assisted IFRC to update its entry for efficient solid fuel stoves in the Emergency Items Catalogue, which provides recommendations for products to be used in humanitarian situations. Learn more: https://bit.ly/2ny6Cds

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    The Alliance has set an internal 2017 goal to support 1-2 more humanitarian agencies to adopt minimum technical specifications for cookstoves in humanitarian aid and will continue to communicate with and offer ad hoc support to UNHCR as it implements its procurement guidelines. Milestones will be reported internally to the Alliance’s Advisory and Leadership Councils.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    Selecting an appropriate cookstove is a highly complex process, dependent on factors such as local cooking practices, cost barriers, and fuel accessibility, which vary significantly by population. For displaced people, procuring fuel may cause conflict with host communities or be limited by local laws. Moreover, the urgency of enabling displaced people to cook can compete with goals to move towards cleaner and more efficient fuels and stove technologies in the long term. Developing and enforcing procurement guidelines that cover all contexts is therefore challenging and requires extensive consultation and review.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides', what would it be

    Increasing access to household cooking energy for displaced people requires actionable commitments by humanitarian agencies to (1) develop and adhere to minimum standards on technology and fuels and (2) broker partnerships with each other, the private sector, governments, and displaced people themselves to implement appropriate solutions.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Food Security ☑ IDPs ☑ People-centred approach ☑ Private sector ☑ Refugees

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Commitment to Action: Transcending the humanitarian - development divide

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑3A - Reduce and address displacement ☑ 4A - Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

Attachments

  • WHS Commitments Attachments
    Transformation - 2D, 3D | Gender
  • WHS Commitments Attachments
    Transformation - 4A, 4C | People-centred approach