Inspired by young resourceful Kenyan entrepreneurs working with recycling and upcycling of second-hand products this project seeks to inform and engage Danish students at vocational pre-training centers in Denmark. The training centers target young people who are still looking for a suitable study or profession and are rarely very engaged in global issues. It is estimated that about a third of the Danish population has a limited knowledge and interest in global development issues. Reaching this group of people with relevant communication material becomes a special challenge.

A series of simple how-to videos introduce the students to several skilled and self-made Kenyan craftsmen. The ‘How to step-by-step videos’ facilitates the creation of a shared space between young people in Denmark and young Kenyans. The aim of the videos is that the simple craftmanship displayed, will be capable of inspiring the students at the vocational training center to either engage in something similar or result in new localized ideas. Whilst showing and working with the material in the videos it is also hoped that they will be capable of catalyzing a debate or reflection on similarities between hopes and aspirations of young green entrepreneurs across two different continents.

The videos are brought to the Danish classrooms along with supplementary educational material that consist of tangible step-by-step guides as well as background materials that provides the students with knowledge about the similarities and differences between Kenyan and Danish society.

Watch one of the step-by-step guides here.

To respond to the growing humanitarian crisis in the northern region of Mozambique as a result of the escalation of the conflict in Cabo Delgado, where over 300,000 people are now displaced, SustainableEnergy and its local partner Livaningo, through this Integrated Rapid Response project aims to save lives and address protection needs through the restoration of livelihoods of resettled IDPs Households and improve cohesion between hosting and IDPs communities in Nampula, Meconta District. Agriculture in emergency activities will target a specific and well-defined group of 300 IDP households who have been reallocated to permanent accommodation centres and have a plot of land allocated to them. In contrast, social cohesion activities will target both the resettled group and the surrounding hosting communities. The intervention is coordinated with the relevant humanitarian aid sector clusters in Nampula Province.

Nomads and farmers in the western part of Kenya have for decades been in dispute with each other over land and cattle issues. During the past decades the conflict has intensified and today armed cattle raids are common. Frequently the results are displaced families with the children paying the highest price.

The many weapons in circulation after the war in Sudan and the protracted civil war in Somalia have contributed to the escalation of the conflict. Climate change has resulted in less rainfall and desertification and has further reduced the fodder available for the cattle. Increasing competition over land available for grazing has further aggravated the on-going conflict.

Refugee children must be secured schooling
To escape from a dangerous environment, whole families or the children alone flee their homesteads and seek down to more peaceful areas south where they temporarily live with relatives or acquaintances. Children are often not offered schooling in the new area and therefore, the project will work for the children to be re-enrolled into school.

Dialogue and conflict management
The project effort is focused in Elgeyo Marakwet County, where it addresses conflict mediation to prevent and counteract the unrest. The aim is to facilitate a continued constructive dialogue between the parties involved in the conflict. This include representatives of the various ethnic groups, authorities and police.
The project is expected to have a positive impact on approximately 4.000 children.

Victoria Institute for Research on Environment and Development, (VIRED) is the partner responsible for the implementation of the project.

In 2017 an aspiration to create an inspirational advocacy and communication linkages between the country components led to the creation of the “Programmatic Communication Platform”

The PCP is now a sustained facility anchored under the current programme with participants from seven organizations from the two sets of consortiums in Mozambique and Kenya. To add regional relevance 2 additional partners from Tanzania and Uganda were included in early 2018

Hence the platform consists of communication staff from SusWatch Kenya, Livaningo Mozambique, ADEL Sofala Mozambique, Osienala Kenya, Uganda Coalition for Sustainable Development, CREP Kenya, TaTEDO Tanzania, Umande Trust Kenya and SustainableEnergy Denmark.

The Programmatic Communication Platform is born out of a realization that working with communication on trans boundary issues like climate change and climate action provides a unique opportunity for CSOs to meet across borders to discuss effective ways and means to advocate for both local and global climate action.

The team meets physically once or twice a year and besides that, it holds regular online meetings to keep momentum.  By these means, the platform seeks to follow its aim of strengthening each other and develop new innovative approaches to influence decision-makers to take climate action.

The Programmatic Communication Platform, of course, has its own web-page with its own media productions

The organisations taking part in the Programmatic Communication Platform are:

• ADEL Sofala
• Community Rehabilitation & Environmental Protection (CREP) Programme
• Livaningo
• OSIENALA (Friends of Lake Victoria)
• Suswatch Kenya
• Tanzania Traditional Energy Development Organization (TaTEDO)
• Uganda Coalition for Sustainable Development (UCSD)
• Umande Trust

When the men land their catch at Lake Victoria, women are ready to buy fish for the local market. Since the competition for the catch is tough, it is common for women to pay with sexual services to the fishermen.

In Luo language, this life-threatening practice, that women pay with sex for fish, is called “Jaboya”. Often, young girls at school age contribute to the family’s income base by offering sex as a payment for the catch. However, the risk of pregnancy and being infected with HIV is huge. In fact, the areas along Lake Victoria have the largest prevalence of HIV in Kenya. When school girls get pregnant, the law tells them to stop going to school.

Competition between women in the markets has also become harder in recent years. Climate change, overfishing and increasing population pressure have led to a decline in fish stocks.

“Turudi Shule – Empowering girls against Jaboya”, based on two fishing landing sites, will try to break the evil spiral. Through local change agents and NGOs, the project will contribute to the implementation of attitude-changing anti-Jaboya campaigns, and at the same time exposed girls will be set on track back to either school or job training.

Victoria Institute for Research on Environment and Development, (VIRED) is the partner responsible for the implementation of the project.

The program consists of two country programs in Mozambique and Kenya, respectively. The target groups in the two programs are vulnerable population groups whose living conditions are further deteriorated by the noticeable climate change the regions are exposed to, for example, shifting rain patterns, frequent floods, decrease in yields and longer droughts. Through a number of local civil society organizations, the program supports the ability of the affected groups to implement sustainable natural resource management. Efforts will be based on simple local development plans / agreements with local communities, such as tree planting, nursery schools, bee keeping, general restructuring of agricultural production, more drought-resistant crops as well as the establishment of solar-powered irrigation systems and electrification of homes via solar cells. On the basis of practical efforts, the program will, through advocacy, influence local policies and budgets to be more directed towards the most vulnerable populations. The program is also linked to the climate policy work undertaken by VE in Denmark.

The country programs are mentioned elsewhere on this page under these two names:

– Natural Resource Management Committees in Sofala – Governance, Rights and Climate Change

–  Devolution and 
Climate Change Adaptation in Western Kenya

The purpose of the project is to promote the implementation of the Paris Agreement in East Africa, focusing on increasing climate ambitions and integrating poverty alleviation. The project’s goal is to increase civil society’s influence in the adjustment process of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and long-term low-emission development strategies (LEDS) in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The project focuses on 1) capacity building by strengthening CSO knowledge and capacity within NDC and LEDS processes including poverty alleviation and opportunities for international funding; 2) strengthening networks and coordinating among national and regional coalitions through exchange of experience and cooperation and 3) developing and conducting coordinated advocacy aimed at national, regional and international institutions and decision makers for more ambitious and poverty-oriented NDCs / LEDs and for increased international funding for the implementation of NDCs and LEDSs.

For more information go to: INFORSE-Africa: http://www.inforse.org/africa/East_Africa_PIPA.htm

The purpose of the programme is that communities can take care of their own natural resources and obtain and make inclusive and sustainable use of revenues generated from an exploitation of natural resources within community owned land. The law providing for the revenue is quite progressive but unfortunately equally in-transparent in its implementation.
The direct work with communities is carried out by ADEL Sofala complemented by two other Sofala based organisations, these are Muleide – Women’s Association for Law and Development and Ipaj – Institute for Legal Assistance and Representation.

Livaningo, a Maputo based advocacy organization,  will be looking at the effects of the program targeting national networks and agendas through communication and advocacy efforts – often together with other members of the consortium. A network of environmental concerned journalists is also attached to the program.

It is the expectation of SustainableEnergy and the partners that civil society actors working closely together will have a greater impact in addressing structural constraints that constitute a barrier to people centered and just development in the Province of Sofala.

The project focuses on enhancing local producers’ access to the formal market by improving the production and strengthening the integration of the small-scale beekeepers in the value chain of honey production. The project will include training in 1) modern beekeeping methods, 2) organization and strengthening of local beekeeper associations, and 3) business plans.

The project seeks to coordinate and create synergy with other initiatives and to cooperate with local authorities and private sectors actors, e.g. the Provincial Honey Group.

The project is implemented by ADEL Sofala.

This project is funded by the European Union through the Local Economic Development Program (ProDEL).

PRODUCAO DE MEL – SOFALA
Click above to see a television video clip about the project (in Portuguese)

The DaCCA program seeks to take advantage from the possibilities appearing in the new Kenyan constitution (2010) introducing devolved governance at both political and administrative levels. Under the devolution act 15% of central government revenues are planned to be transferred to the county governments with an intention of institutionalizing public participation in planning and decision making processes. Although the pitfalls are many there is a general agreement amongst civil society in Kenya that over time the act gives a real opportunity of bringing democratic decisions closer to the grass roots prioritizing local needs whilst addressing the challenges of inequality and poverty. The DaCCA program will test and facilitate the willingness of duty-bearers to carry out the intentions of the act. It is expected that the organisational structure of the program will stimulate a creative process where synergy between the alliance partners will create new models for partnership between duty-bearers and right-holders in mutual interest of mitigating the effect of climate change. DaCCA has been designed with 4 Kenyan CSOs: CREPP, Osienala, Umande Trust and SusWatch.

The aim of the project is to strengthen the implementation of regionally agreed policies in West Africa concerning pro-poor climate change mitigation through access to sustainable energy. The background is that a number of strategies have been agreed regionally by for instance the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), but national implementation lags behind.

The implementation will be strengthened by increasing knowledge and ownership of the policies amongst civil society actors, private sector actors, and decision-makers nationally and regionally in ECOWAS. SustainableEnergy is cooperating with the International Network for Sustainable Energy (INFORSE) with partners in seven different West African countries: ENDA in Senegal, CEAS in Burkina Faso, MFC in Mali, JVE in Benin, OPED in Togo, AFHON in Côte d’Ivoire, and CODDAE in Niger. See all partners her.

And for more information go to: INFORSE-Africa: http://www.inforse.org/africa/West_Africa_ACE.htm

Frame agreement with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Danida). Describes the strategic orientation in a four years’ perspective. Provides funding for country programmes in Kenya and Mozambique. Due to a general cut in the Danish ODA in 2015 Mali country activities were phased out by the end of 2016.

The 1-year project is an NGO Cooperation across the INFORSE-Europe network in 5 Eastern European countries:
From Armenia: ECO-Team,
From Belarus: Centre for Environmental Solutions
From Macedonia: Eko Svest,
From Serbia: Cekor, 
From Ukraine: Renewable Energy Agency,
From Denmark: INFORSE Denmark.

The overall development objective of the Project is the transition of the 5 project countries, and ultimately the region to sustainable energy in a way that eliminates energy poverty and reduces poverty in general via creation of local jobs in energy efficiency and renewable energy. The Project will facilitate to develop and promote sustainable energy strategies that are supported by a group of civil society organisations and that are influencing the official energy strategies or plans. This influence is either local or national, depending on the country.

Read more on INFORSE web-page

Fore more information:
INFORSE-Asia http://www.inforse.org/asia/Low-Carbon-Strategies.htm
INFORSE-Africa   http://www.inforse.org/africa/Low-Carbon-Strategies.htm

For more information read here:

INFORSE-Asia  http://www.inforse.org/asia/SouthernVoice.htm

INFORSE-Africa  http://www.inforse.org/africa/SouthernVoice.htm