On May 23-24, the United Nations will host the first ever World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul, Turkey. The Summit will be attended by over 5,000 participants, including leaders from governments, private sector, civil society, academia, civil-military, and crisis-affected communities. Together, they will work to find better ways of meeting the needs of millions of people affected by conflicts and disasters. There has never been a greater opportunity to advocate for the importance of energy access for heating, lighting, cooking, and powering for people living in humanitarian settings.
Energy access is a critical, life-saving component of humanitarian response. Energy technologies and alternative fuels can help bridge the humanitarian-development divide by improving livelihoods, food security and nutrition, health, safety, and the environment in a way that is cost-effective and sustainable.
The SAFE Humanitarian Working Group aims to raise awareness about energy access before and during the Summit through several channels, and encourages you to add your voice to the thousands of others advocating for important issues in humanitarian response – to help spread the word that Energy Matters for the nearly 60 million displaced women, men, boys and girls living in humanitarian settings around the world.
The SAFE Working Group is conducting #EnergyMatters, a social media campaign to raise awareness, educate the public, and increase the inclusion of energy access as a key topic of discussion before and during the World Humanitarian Summit.
Is your organization sending representatives to WHS? Would they be willing to advocate for energy access? If so, please notify us at info@safefuelandenergy.org so we can coordinate our efforts.
In order to make the case for energy access in humanitarian settings, we need to refer to the incredible work that has already been implemented by our partners in the field. The world needs to know how energy access helps to save and improve lives.
Share your successes, photos, statistics, and research on your websites and social media feeds, and send them to us at info@safefuelandenergy.org. You can also Add a Project to or Add a Resource to this website to help build our humanitarian energy access Project Map and promote knowledge sharing and best practices in this sector.
If you or members of your organization will attend WHS, be sure to:
Even if you are not attending the Summit, you can view the proceedings live at http://webtv.un.org on May 23-24, and join our discussions on Twitter with using the hashtag #EnergyMatters!