Strategies for energy access in refugee camps: The case of Alianza Shire

The world is witnessing an unprecedented migratory crisis. By the end of 2016, there were more than 65 million of forcibly displaced people. Around 22 million of them were refugees who were forced to flee due to persecution, conflict, repression and natural disasters. Over 40% of the refugees are living in camps and in average the length of stay in a refugee camp is up to 12 years. The average lifespan of a refugee camp is close to 20 years. The priority of the humanitarian community is to provide this population with basic services such as shelter, food, water and protection. Nevertheless, there is an element that has been historically disregarded among refugees’ needs, despite its relevance and cross cutting impacts: access to energy. Almost 90% of people living in refugee camps do not have access to electricity and up to 80% of these people have minimal access to energy for cooking and heating purposes. After migration occurs, the forcibly displaced people have even less access to energy than in their places of origin. When populations arrive in humanitarian settings –like refugee camps-, they often get into harsh conditions, aggravated by a lack of access to energy. In light of this problem, Alianza Shire was set up in 2014. Alianza Shire is a cross-sectorial partnership formed by the Innovation and Technology for Development Centre from the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, three Spanish energy companies (Ibedrola, Philips Lighting and Fundacion ACCIONA Microenergia), the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) with the collaboration of the UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) as implementing partner. This partnership is conceived as a platform that aims at providing innovative and sustainable solutions regarding the energy access of displaced and refugee populations. The pilot project in Adi-Harush refugee camp (Ethiopia) shows how a different approach, based on the collaboration, the sustainability and the involvement of the refugees and the host community can lead to durable solutions and relevant environmental, protection and economic impacts. This experience exemplifies that a different approach is needed to cope with the problem of energy access in refugee camps. Supported by a deep context characterizations and the involvement of the local authorities, the users must have a central role. In addition, a better coordination among stakeholders can help to optimize resources and avoid duplication. Business models to enhance livelihood opportunities can link the humanitarian relief to the development, counting with the support of the private sector. For all this elements, is necessary the participation of the host communities based on a long-term approach.