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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Major New Online Resource on Poverty and Energy Launched
LONDON - 20 May 2002 (SPARKNET) – A major new online resource on poverty and energy has been launched today. The website, http://sparknet.info, is an initiative of SPARKNET an interdisciplinary knowledge network focusing on energy for low-income households in Southern and East Africa. SPARKNET is sponsored by the European Commission's 5th Framework Programme for Research under the research and technological development programme “Confirming the International Role of Community Research (INCO)”, and coordinated by the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) in close cooperation with Eco Ltd, both based in the United Kingdom.
Acting as a ’virtual community’ and meeting / publishing through the internet - both the world wide web and email - SPARKNET brings together stakeholders from seven countries in Southern and East Africa and three from the European Union around the issue of energy and poverty in low-income households. The network initially runs until December 2004. SPARKNET members in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa, working with local NGO, Private Sector, and Government associates will compare and contrast the prevailing rural household energy situation in each country so as to highlight policy options and innovation opportunities. Two international Internet-conferences will be held so as to assist with the dissemination of the results.
The world economy is still characterized by an unequal production, distribution and consumption of wealth between the North and the South. In developing countries, poor people do not even have access to basic services such as clean water, shelter, improved fuels for cooking and space heating. This economic marginalization is exacerbated by a lack of political power, information, and communication resources, which contribute to the vicious circle of poverty. Energy is one of the five key areas identified by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan for concrete action at the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in September 2002 in Johannesburg, and partnerships such as SPARKNET are seen as a key to integrating environment and development needs.
Project coordinator, Dr Smail Khennas of the ITDG, stresses “The lack of improved energy services combined with very low efficiency and over-use of biomass have an adverse impact on bio-diversity, health and on the overall quality of life of poor people. The energy sector has a fundamental role to play in helping to eliminate poverty as “energy” issues affect every sector.” For the members of SPARKNET, the challenge is how poor people, in a context of acute poverty, can gain access to better energy services and improve their livelihoods.
At the launch of the new web site, network coordinator and sustainable energy expert Dr Grant Ballard-Tremeer of Eco Ltd and HEDON Household Energy Network, said that sparknet.info would provide unique resources for policy makers, companies, and civil society. Visitors to the web site already have access to briefing papers on the relationship between Health, Gender and Forestry and Energy Poverty, as well as details of SPARKNET members and associates in the target countries. Over the next 3 years, additional resources will be made available by network members, including detailed country reports, scenario analyses, and policy assessments. Two international conferences will be held online in 2003 and 2004.
You can check out the SPARKNET website at http://sparknet.info
Interview Contact: Dr Grant Ballard-Tremeer, eco Ltd
Telephone: +44-20 7386 7930
press@sparknet.info
http://sparknet.info and http://ecoharmony.com
SPARKNET press and media resources: http://sparknet.info/press
Dr Smail Khennas, ITDG
smailk@itdg.org.uk
http://www.itdg.org
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