Today, nearly a million Rohingya refugees live in Bangladesh(UNHCR, November 2023), the majority in the Cox’s Bazar district. Most of them have been forcibly displaced as a result of the massacres taking place in Myanmar since 2017.
Both the Rohingya refugees and the surrounding host communities need access to basic services, including electricity. Access to this energy can be used to light homes, recharge telephones and radios, power community health services, provide access to water and develop productive and economic activities.
Electriciens sans frontières has already carried out two projects in the area in 2019 and 2021, entitled Light for the Rohingyas 1 and 2.
The aim was to improve the safety and living conditions of the refugees and host populations, while at the same time increasing their skills through knowledge transfer in the field of photovoltaic energy. Electriciens sans frontières was awarded the Zayed Sustainability Prize in the Energy in 2020 category for this project. Find out more about the project.
With the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Electriciens sans frontières is now duplicating this model.
The main objective of this new project is to develop the local capacities of Rohingya refugees and host community members in the installation, operation, repair, maintenance and recycling of solar energy products and services, to increase the sustainability of humanitarian operations.
This objective will be achieved by training technicians and involving the local population. This project is intended to be replicated in other camps around the world.
This project was carried out with the support of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), Schneider Electric and NGO Forum.
