Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF - Doctors Without Borders) and the Veolia Foundation have signed a multi-year research and innovation partnership in the fields of energy, waste, wastewater and drinking water.
The partnership aims to reduce the energy footprint and optimize MSF’s projects and missions, and to examine the possibility of using renewable energy, especially solar, in order to improve the autonomy of field facilities.
In addition to financial support, the Veolia Foundation will provide MSF with access to its Veoliaforce network of experts to assist the organisation with its research and innovation projects, especially in the area of energy.
The first area of applied and experimental research will involve the installation of photovoltaic solar panels to secure an autonomous supply of electricity for MSF’s mission to combat malaria in Moissala, southern Chad.
MSF has been running a malaria prevention and treatment mission in this region since 2010, in particular targeting children under the age of five for whom this disease the leading cause of mortality.
MSF provides local support for the Ministry of Health’s prevention campaigns (awareness and preventive treatment) and healthcare activities (consultations in health centres and hospitalisation for the most severe cases).
The first step in 2015 will be to set up solar panels on the site facilities which house between five and ten expatriate and local personnel, together with a significant stock of equipment and medication
Stéphane Roques, general director of Médecins Sans Frontières, said: “The purpose in this strategic sector is twofold. First, we wish to optimise energy management for MSF’s missions and generate savings and reduce our energy footprint. Second, we are considering the use of renewable energies, especially solar, in order to improve the autonomy of our projects.”
For Thierry Vandevelde, general delegate for the Veolia Foundation, said: “This partnership will strengthen the already positive cooperation between our two organizations. It will enable us to extend and improve the service we provide to the communities experiencing hardship that the organization helps on a daily basis.”
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