ChildFund International offices/HANDOUTChildFund International and Schneider Electric have partnered to develop renewable energy projects targeting schools, health centres, smallholder farmers and micro-enterprises in underserved communities across Africa and Asia.
Under the four-year partnership, the two organisations will co-design and implement clean energy solutions aimed at improving children's well-being and strengthening community resilience.
Kenya is among nine African countries that will benefit from the partnership alongside Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Guinea and The Gambia.
The programme will also cover Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and India.
The projects will focus on community development and resilience, sustainable agriculture and livelihoods, education and skills development, entrepreneurship, health services, and emergency and humanitarian response.
The partnership builds on Schneider Electric's Access to Energy programme, which was launched in 2009 and has worked with communities and organisations in more than 50 countries to provide affordable and sustainable energy systems.
ChildFund Chief Impact and Innovation Officer Karen Hanrahan said reliable energy was important to children's health and education.
“We rarely talk about energy as a children’s issue, but it should be one of the first things we discuss,” Hanrahan said.
She said unreliable electricity could affect essential health services, including the safe storage of vaccines.
Hanrahan said schools with electricity could also run evening classes and provide access to digital learning tools.
For smallholder farmers, the programme will support access to equipment such as irrigation pumps and processing machinery, which can improve productivity and incomes.
Schneider Electric Global Vice President for Access to Energy Jamal Safiulla said reliable electricity could support improvements across several areas of community life.
“Access to reliable electricity is a catalyst for better education, healthcare, livelihoods, and improved socio-economic conditions,” Safiulla said.
He said the partnership would combine clean energy solutions with community engagement to support children and families.
Under the partnership, Schneider Electric's Access to Energy team will provide technical guidance and advisory support for the projects.
The company will also provide renewable energy products and support training and capacity-building in electrical skills.
The training will cover system operation and maintenance to support the sustainability of the projects.
ChildFund will lead community needs assessments and consultations with young people and communities to inform project design.
The organisation will also facilitate relationships between communities and government institutions involved in the projects.
The partnership is expected to link renewable energy solutions with programmes focused on education, healthcare, agriculture, livelihoods and community resilience.
The organisations said the approach would allow projects to be designed around the specific needs of communities in the countries targeted by the programme.
