Challenging traditional energy settings in the humanitarian aid: experiences from Doctors Without Borders

Abstract

Energy is essential to the provision of humanitarian aid, from operating medical and non-medical equipment, to storing vaccines and drugs. In the last decades, the contexts of intervention of humanitarian actors are getting more complex and volatile, sometimes leading to longer project lifespans. To respond to this evolving context, and at the same time to try to cope with the global ecological crisis, humanitarian actors are proposing new strategies toward more sustainable energy solutions in their operations. However, there is a lack of reflection regarding how energy is conceived and used in the humanitarian response. With the aim of shedding light on these issues, we take the case of Médecins Sans Frontières, a medical humanitarian organization who is rethinking its traditional logics of energy planning. The results reveal that even if some transformative approaches to energy are emerging in the humanitarian field, they face several challenges when putting them into practice. Challenges related to effectiveness and flexibility, core concerns of the humanitarian aid. The work invites to a deeper look at the plurality of those challenges, aiming to gain better understanding on the relationship between energy and society and its operational impact.