Error message

Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in drupal_settings_initialize() (line 802 of /backup/agenda/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc).

Self Report 2018

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.

Expand All

  • 2D
    Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • 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
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Gender-based violence prevention and response

    The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (the Alliance) has proceeded in its partnership with Plan International Spain and John Hopkins University (JHU) to evaluate the impact of a cooking intervention on the risk and incidence of gender-based violence (GBV) in a refugee camp, since there is very little data available on this issue. 

    In 2017, the project team designed a research plan to understand cookstoves and fuel use, patterns of firewood collection/consumption, food security, burns, psychological and social functioning (including depression, anxiety and PTSD), GBV, gender norms, intimate partner violence, personal agency, decision-making, empowerment, and participation in economic activities among refugee women. The data collected through this study will serve to inform the broader community about interventions that can reduce the risk and incidence of GBV. 

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    The Alliance will fully assess the impact of the commitment on change in the direction of the transformation at the end of the study. It is anticipated that the data collected through this study will serve to inform the broader community about interventions that can lead to the eradication of GBV.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Field conditions, including insecurity and access
    • Funding amounts
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Bureaucratic impediments have caused delays in study execution. Additional funding would have allowed for enhanced data collection and more robust reporting to guide future energy interventions to reduce GBV. 

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    Plan and JHU are in the process of preparing a baseline survey of 2,000 refugee women in the Kigeme camp, Rwanda, covering all of the parameters mentioned in Question 1 (to understand cookstoves and fuel use, patterns of firewood collection/consumption, food security, burns, psychological and social functioning (including depression, anxiety and PTSD), GBV, gender norms, intimate partner violence, personal agency, decision-making, empowerment, and participation in economic activities among refugee women.).  Later in 2018, the team will conduct an end line survey to assess the impact a cooking intervention (biomass fuel pellets and fan-gasifying stoves) and a women’s empowerment training on all of the above parameters.  

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    (1) Funding is needed for 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 implementers to properly measure and evaluate protection concerns.

    (2) Crucially, organizations conducting these studies must also find ways to share their data and learn collective lessons.

    (3) Energy access must be recognized as a formal priority in UN humanitarian assistance.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    Multiple partners have collaborated to share information and (in some cases) change their plans to ensure that this research (A) makes use of previous studies and existing best practices, (B) does not duplicate existing initiatives, and (C) does not place undue burden (i.e. “survey fatigue”) on the population of concern.

    Keywords

    Gender, Protection

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

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • 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
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Adherence to quality and accountability standards (e.g. CHS, SPHERE)

    In 2017 the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (the Alliance) mobilized members of the Safe Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE) Working Group to provide public comments on the revised version of the SPHERE Handbook.

    Together with SAFE representatives from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mercy Corps, Chatham House, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Alliance submitted collective comments recommending that updated guidelines on cooking, fuel provision, and energy-related relief items be incorporated into the Handbook’s chapters on Food Security & Nutrition and Shelter, Settlement, and Household items.

    The Alliance also provided more in-depth revisions on both chapters in a separate set of individual comments (see both attached). Several of these recommendations have been adopted in the current draft of the revised handbook, due for release in 2018. This will enhance quality standards for energy programming and offer additional guidance for implementers.

    Cash-based programming

     In 2017, the Alliance awarded two project grants under its newly-launched Humanitarian Clean Cooking Fund (HCCF), the goal of which is to scale up innovative projects that increase access to cleaner, more efficient fuels and cooking technology for crisis-affected people.

    Both grantee organizations are working with their respective UNHCR country offices in Ethiopia and Rwanda to roll out cash-based programming that will enable refugees to purchase more advanced cookstoves and fuels, thereby reducing firewood use, time spent on cooking activities and potentially risk of gender-based violence (GBV).

    The introduction of cash programming enables both grantees to use market-based approaches in their interventions. This will contribute a growing body of knowledge on if or how alternative delivery approaches in humanitarian settings can provide long term benefits for target populations, promote sustainable local economic activity, reinforce capacity of local actors and increase agency and choice for displaced populations.

    Other-4A

    As co-chair of the SAFE Humanitarian Working Group, the Alliance works to build the knowledge and capacity of field practitioners and other stakeholders in providing effective fuel and energy solutions to crisis-affected people. To this end, the Alliance hosted the fourth annual SAFE Humanitarian Workshop from November 28 – December 1 in Nairobi, Kenya.

    The event was co-hosted by the UNHCR Kenya, the International Organization on Migration, the United Nations Foundation, and the World Food Programme. Attendees included 145 participants from 20 countries and 125 organizations, comprising stakeholders from the humanitarian, development, private, and public sectors, and including local NGOs and refugees.

    Participants received training in fundamental concepts and principles of delivering effective energy solutions in humanitarian contexts. Additionally, the 2017 workshop featured high-level discussions and breakout sessions that facilitated cross-sectoral collaboration. Country breakout sessions allowed for sharing ideas and resources and enhancing collaboration with local and national leaders.

    Strengthening national/local leadership and systems

    In 2017, the Alliance provided technical advice and assistance to the Government of Bangladesh’s Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) on the evaluation of various possible cooking solutions to help reduce the rapid consumption of firewood as cooking fuel by Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazaar. This work is ongoing in 2018.

    Through the its newly launched Humanitarian Clean Cooking Fund, the Alliance supports collaboration between local NGOs, local government, UNHCR and refugee populations, thereby enhancing the development and implementation of local solutions to benefit displaced populations.  

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    Three chief indicators are measured annually: (1) number of organizations who partner with the Alliance on humanitarian projects; (2) number of organizations and persons trained in energy programming, and (3) number of requests to the Alliance for cooking and fuel expertise in humanitarian settings. 

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Buy-in
    • Data and analysis
    • Funding amounts
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Without a formal mandate to prioritize energy access in humanitarian assistance, agencies struggle to balance energy with competing priorities. Few have dedicated budgets to support energy initiatives or provide related training to field staff. Moreover, existing data on energy needs among crisis-affected people is largely disaggregated, making strategic planning difficult.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    1. Oversee implementation of HCCF projects in Ethiopia and Rwanda.
    2. Continue to provide technical advice and assistance to the Government of Bangladesh on cooking solutions for the Rohingya refugees.
    3. Contribute to the development of the Global Plan of Action on Sustainable Energy in Situations of Displacement.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Decision makers within the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and major aid agencies should set agency-wide strategies for incorporating energy access into humanitarian projects, including budgetary allocations.

    Dialogues must be initiated with private energy providers on how to bring context-appropriate solutions to crisis-affected people, as well as donors and investors on how to sustainably fund such initiatives. Most importantly, crisis-affected people, host governments and local stakeholders must be incorporated into project planning from the beginning.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    With UNHCR, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and others, the Alliance has launched development of the Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Energy in Situations of Displacement – a multi-stakeholder plan to ensure that every person affected by conflict or natural disaster has access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy services by 2030.

    Keywords

    Cash, Local action, People-centred approach, Private sector, Quality and accountability standards

  • 4C
    Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • 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
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Other-4C

    In 2017, with support from Grand Challenges Canada, the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (the Alliance) partnered with the Gaia Association to establish a locally run, women-led social enterprise that assembles, sells, and maintains stoves and ethanol fuel for a community of refugees, internally displaced people, and host community members in Kebribeyah, Ethiopia.

    The project employed a market-based approach that relied on four revenue streams – fuel sales, stove sales, maintenance services, and carbon credits – to reduce dependency on donor funds and promote long term sustainability.

    The Alliance conducted a training on its Empowered Entrepreneur curriculum, which helped the local women employed in Gaia’s business to increase their skills, confidence and agency. Overall the project demonstrated a holistic approach to addressing health risks linked to cooking with biomass fuels – integrating refugee, IDP, and host community beneficiaries and using a mix of market-based, development, and traditional humanitarian approaches. 

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    The Alliance monitors progress through regular communication and information-sharing with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other key agencies in the Safe Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE) Working Group – tracking the incidence of beneficial collaborations between humanitarian, development, and private sector actors on energy interventions and developing lessons learned.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Field conditions, including insecurity and access
    • Funding amounts
    • Information management/tools
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    • Given most support for energy initiatives relies on donor funds, humanitarian and development organizations can find themselves in competition for the same funding pots.
    • Private sector actors who may be interested in operating in humanitarian settings lack information on how to access camps or sell their products to humanitarian agencies.  

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    1. Oversee implementation of two humanitarian clean cooking projects that employ market-based approaches.
    2. Continue to encourage public-private collaboration on humanitarian energy through leadership of the Safe Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE) Working Group
    3. Contribute to the Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Energy in Situations of Displacement.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Coordination mechanisms should be established, and opportunities for collaboration explored, among agencies interested in implementing similar initiatives in the same locations and between humanitarian and development actors. Dialogues need to be facilitated between private energy providers and humanitarian agencies on access to camps and bulk procurement tenders for energy products. Donors and investors can work with all of the above actors to consider how to “de-risk” humanitarian contexts (where possible) for private sector engagement.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    The Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Energy in Situations of Displacement, which is co-led in part by the Alliance, UNHCR, and others, aims to address barriers to innovative delivery approaches and cross-sector collaboration through key working areas on Coordination & Planning and Innovative Finance.

    Keywords

    Gender, Local action, People-centred approach, Private sector