Nairobi – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has partnered with Strathmore University in Kenya to start a Solar Water Pumping course, launched on 13 March.

The course is part of the IOM-led Global Solar and Water Initiative (GLOSWI), supported by the European Union, and will be incorporated into the Strathmore Energy Research Center curriculum. Training courses will run several times each year. Other project partners include Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

The effort is aimed at building capacity among humanitarian engineers, government specialists, private sector actors and consultants working in the fields of water supply and clean energy.

“Our partnership with Strathmore University is unique in nature and will serve as a model for sharing solar water innovations with future engineering practitioners,” said IOM Regional Director for East and Horn of Africa Jeffrey Labovitz. “We are now at a time where clean and affordable energy can increase access to water in places where in the past, access involved walking long distances.”

Across many rural communities and poor urban centers in East and Horn of Africa, millions of people suffer from a dearth of access to clean and safe water. They are often forced to trek miles to get water from streams for domestic and livestock consumption.

This initiative has already trained many water and energy specialists from various humanitarian agencies and UN bodies in East and Horn of Africa, in a bid to make the water supply more sustainable, ecological and cost-efficient in both humanitarian and development settings. Many of those trained are providing services to local communities and within settlements for refugees and internally displaced persons. 

The use of clean energy in water projects is growing exponentially in East Africa, with hundreds of millions of US dollars invested every year.

“East Africa offers huge untapped potential for providing affordable and clean water to communities who need it most,” said Jérôme Burlot, Water and Sanitation expert for EU Humanitarian Aid in East Africa. “By training more water experts, we can spread the knowledge and skills to exploit this potential.”

The course will help the trainees with hands-on training, while fostering further dialogue on best practices for effective solar water pumping in East Africa. Solar water pumping focuses on solar technology, fluid dynamics, pump mechanics, hydrology and irrigation.

Potential applications of this course include small-scale irrigation, potable water supply for institutions, community-scale water supply schemes and livestock water supply.

For more information please contact Kenneth Odiwuor, Tel: +254 722 560363, Email: kodiwuor@iom.int