Calls to Relook Energy Use on World Refugee Day

Connecting displaced people with clean, affordable energy is an urgent humanitarian challenge. In refugee camps, the number of residents without electricity and safe cooking methods can be as high as 90%, opines Nashwa Naushad, programme officer at Ashden and Amer Alkayed, the co-founder and chairperson of Global Refugee-Led Network, for AllAfrica.

Powering up communities supports displaced people to stay safe and healthy, earn a living, learn, and stay in touch with loved ones. But there are many barriers to progress - including a lack of public and private investment, and officials' reluctance to sanction infrastructure that "settles" displaced people.

Every day across the Global South businesses and non-profits are using mini-grids and rooftop solar panels to bring clean energy to more and more communities - while safer cookstoves tackle deforestation and air pollution.

But too often, barriers stop the spread of these services and products to displaced people. We risk a widening energy poverty gap, further adding to the challenges faced by some of the world's most marginalised communities.

On World Refugee Day, June 20, it's time to ask - how can this gap be closed? A key step is supporting and replicating homegrown energy initiatives, and the entrepreneurs and community organisations driving ground-up change. They know the solutions needed, and the funding and business models that can make them a reality.