A friend of mine celebrated a landmark birthday at the weekend. We reminisced, over jelly and ice cream, then focused on the future: what will our lives look like at our next big birthdays, in 10 or 20 years time?
Right now, I’m embarking on a new adventure. I’ve just started working on an exciting new project at Practical Action – focusing on access to energy. It’s shocking to learn that today almost 2 billion people, a third of the world’s population, live without electricity. But it’s an outrage to hear that the figure is likely to be the same in 20 years time.
How can poor families plan for their futures if one of their basic necessities – energy – isn’t even recognised, never mind addressed?
At Practical Action, we know that access to energy is one of the most effective ways of lifting people out of poverty – permanently. How is it possible then, that in 2 decades from now we are expecting so little progress to be made? And not demanding a different outcome?
So it’s time to take a stand – in the coming months we’ll be inviting you to do the same. It’s our best hope for providing poor women and men with the chance to envisage a different future for their families – one in which they are no longer powerless.
Helen Marsh
May 25th, 2010 at 11:02 am
Can you imagine having a baby in the dark without access to hot water, gas or equipment that needs electricity. Just boiling a kettle, cooking dinner, keeping things cool are impossible. And trying to keep warm when it’s minus 10 inside your house is not something I ever want to experience. Energy is important and we need to do something about this now!