Dawit Mulatu, Officer of Ethiopia’s Community Stabilization, International Organization for Migration (IOM) told The Ethiopian Herald that IOM is working to support Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by providing energy-efficient cooking stove designing by a project named “Provision of Improved and Energy-Efficient Cooking Stove” in West Guji /Gedeo IDPs Sites in Ethiopia. The duration of the project will take 8 months and the allocated budget is 400,000 USD. The stove helps to reduce deforestation.
IOM is working to address the critical cooking-fuel access gap in the current Guji-Gedeo (SNNPR), West Guji and East Wollega (Oromia) displacement crisis through provision of improved energy-efficient cook-stoves to IDPs and host communities, he stated.
As to him, IOM proposes strategic distribution of both household and communal cook-stove kits. This intervention will also indirectly contribute to the reduction of strains on the local environment, protection of women from gender-based violence, reducing health hazard resulted in from the indoor smoke as well as the risks of violence associated with competition over resources.
Recently, energy efficient cooking stoves were distributed for 5,447 households and 381 communal kitchens by IOM. The energy-efficient cooking-stoves complement the IOM’s ongoing humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons and affected populations in the Gedeo-Guji crisis and to document the lessons learned.
Distribution took place in West Guji and East Wollega Zones in Oromia State, and Gedeo Zone in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ State.
Gedeo, West Guji and East Wollega Zones are among the most densely populated areas in Ethiopia, and the majority of IDPs and host communities live in rural areas where there is difficulty in access to alternative energy sources. They are thus, heavily dependent on firewood as a primary fuel source for cooking.
He added that the recently procured stoves consume less firewood and are more energy efficient compared to traditional ones. Besides reducing the damage on local forests, the project will also reduce the risk from smoke inhalation and help reduce women’s and girl’s vulnerability to abuse whilst collecting firewood. The stoves directly empower households through helping them to reduce disputes over strained firewood resources.
These improved cooking stoves (ICSs) are boosting the wellbeing of displaced communities and supporting the efforts of Ethiopian government to mitigate the impact of displacement on the environment. In addition to communal stoves to bake kocho a local staple food for vulnerable households, especially those headed by women, fuel-saving stove kits were supplied in accordance with the family size.
IDPs and host communities rely on local forests to access firewood, and it is reported that IDPs are in some cases collecting firewood from the farmlands of host communities. In other cases, an instant assessment found that in the absence of sufficient firewood, some IDP women are forced to collect and burn disposed waste that exposes them to toxic smoke especially from burning plastic which leads to health risks through smoke inhalation, he expressed.
According to IOM document, 156 local officials and 6,500 targeted community members from 8 woredas and 32 kebeles have been trained in advance to the handover of fuel efficient stoves on how to use the kits.
Since 2018, Ethiopia has recorded one of the highest numbers of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the world with border conflicts as the primary driver. Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Ethiopia reported the presence of 3 million IDPs across the country between March and June 2019.
Since then, a significant number of IDPs have returned to their places of origin as part of a phased return initiative that the government began in April. However, displacement-affected communities still require urgent support to address their emergency and recovery needs.
Assessments conducted by IOM and World Vision (WVI), as well as concerns raised by humanitarian partners and government counterparts highlighted lack of access to cooking fuel and competition over the resource as needing urgent intervention. As a result of increasing scarce of firewood, IDPs are facing difficulty in accessing energy and find themselves competing with host communities, something likely to result in deterioration of inter-communal relations.
“Safe access to fuel and energy stands at the intersection of so many things that are concern of protection, nutrition, health, environment, livelihoods and education,” Dawit said.
The initiative is an ongoing effort between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Korea and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
In the coming months, IOM will conduct post-distribution monitoring to assess stove use and the satisfaction of beneficiaries. Through the proposed response, a total of 8,750 households (HHs) (approximately 48,125 individuals) will be directly assisted.
Dawit said that, IOM is currently providing humanitarian assistance to displaced individuals and affected populations through the provision of emergency shelter and non-food item delivery; data collection via the DTM; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions; Site Management Support (SMS) and Mobile Health Services.
The Ethiopian Herald November26, 2019
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
