THE OPEC FUND FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Annual Report 2020
LOCAL CONNECTIONS IN HAITI BRING AN ENERGY OF THEIR OWN EarthSpark International, a non-profit organization com- mitted to expanding access to electricity in Haiti, was awarded the 2020 OPEC Fund Annual Award for Devel- opment. The award, first introduced in 2006, includes a $100,000 prize. It recognized EarthSpark for its inno- vative solutions to energy access and climate-related projects and for providing outstanding support to rural communities in Haiti. Today, more than one billion people around the world live without electricity or with insufficient and unreliable access to energy. Nearly three billion people use polluting fuels like wood or biomass to heat or cook, impacting air quality and causing widespread health problems. In Haiti, where more than half of the population lives on less than $1/day, some 75 percent of people lack access to electricity. EarthSpark tackles these challenges head on. To date, it has laid the foundations for a national micro-grid plan by launching two vanguard solar-powered community micro-grids, directly serving about 4,000 people. EarthSpark is now working to develop additional micro-grids that will directly connect some 84,000 people and provide an additional 200,000 people with access to newly-powered businesses and services. The switch from kerosene lamps and diesel generators is expected to drive down CO 2 and black carbon emissions, improve household and small business economics, and improve local air quality.
Allison Archambault, President of EarthSpark Internation- al, said: "The OPEC Fund Annual Award for Development reaches EarthSpark at a pivotal moment between founda- tion building and scale-up. EarthSpark will use this award to support core operations as the team launches the next micro-grids and pulls together the funding and regulatory commitments to enable the next 22 grids.” EarthSpark’s ‘feminist electrification’ approach ensures that rural women benefit from, and take leadership roles in, infrastructure planning, training and employment. EarthSpark works directly with local businesses and co- operatives to develop new productive uses of electricity for agriculture to enhance incomes and food security. OPEC Fund Director-General Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said: “The OPEC Fund recognizes that access to modern, reliable and affordable energy is closely linked to the empowerment of women, in addition to socio-economic development more generally. It is clear that EarthSpark has the potential to expand these valuable projects and increase support to vulnerable communities, as well as to inspire others. “The OPEC Fund hopes that bestowing this year’s Annual Award for Development on EarthSpark will help to accel- erate the next phase of the non-profit’s business plan and scale up its efforts to enable reliable energy access for more communities in Haiti.”
For more information, see an editorial feature in the OPEC Fund Quarterly magazine: https://bit.ly/3dcUln3
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