At the heart of the ENGIE Foundation's action: Access to energy and employee mobilization with Energy Assistance

To promote employee engagement and develop access to energy for the  most vulnerable populations, the ENGIE Foundation has structured its “Access to energy for all” programme by providing  strong  support for the action and operation of two internal NGOs, Energy Assistance, created in 2001 in Belgium and in 2005 in France, by volunteer employees of the ENGIE group.

Give them the means to act and federate, share a common commitment to allow access to energy for the most vulnerable populations, with a target of one million beneficiaries by the end of 2025.

Signature of the 2022-2025 framework agreement by Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ENGIE and the ENGIE Foundation, Tony Moes de Hase CEO of Energy Assistance in Belgium and Eric Bassac President of Energy Assistance France

Created by voluntary and committed collaborators  in Belgium and France, the mission of Energy Assistance associations  is to bring energy to the  most disadvantaged and isolated populations in the world to provide them  with  essential services  and to improve their living conditions, thanks to sustainable, long term, autonomous and low-carbon energy installations.

These humanitarian projects cannot be carried out without the commitment of ENGIE Group employees, who made their skills and know-how available.

In 2022, 40 projects, supported by the Foundation, were carried out thanks to 67 volunteers.

Giving access to energy means improving daily life, increasing access to drinking water, health, and allowing education under good conditions. But for this to happen, it is essential to give priority to clean and renewable energy sources, to educate and raise awareness.

The ENGIE Corporate Foundation is committed to contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

With 52% of its projects dedicated to access to renewable and sustainable energies and biodiversity in 2022, the ENGIE Foundation is committed year after year to access to energy and the environment. Support impactful projects, participating in the collective effort of the 2030 Agenda and carry ENGIE’s raison d’être – “act to accelerate the transition to a carbon-neutral economy, through more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly solutions”.

The ENGIE Foundation acts to provide:

  • Energy through employee engagement
  • Energy for the education of the greatest number
  • Energy to improve lives on a daily basis

With Energy Assistance, the ENGIE Foundation wishes to

  • Contribute to the 2030 Agenda and  to the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
  • Mobilize employees more strongly
  • In the field of general interest, to provide an illustration of ENGIE’s raison d’être: to work for carbon neutrality among the poorest populations, most often located in isolated areas.


Examples of projects carried out in 2022

Energy to save lives at Panzi Hospital (DRC)

Panzi Hospital was founded by Dr. Denis Mukwege. The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. Denis Mukwege is nicknamed the “fixer of women”. This world-renowned hospital is known for its vocation to help women survivors of sexual violence related to armed conflict. Each year, 2300 women victims of sexual violence are operated on.

The ENGIE Foundation financed the energy equipment  for 5 new operating theatres, work that was carried out by the employees of the internal NGO Energy Assistance Belgium. 

More information: The ENGIE Foundation supports a major project in Africa to combat violence against women – ENGIE Foundation (fondation-engie.com)

Energy for the poorest

Solar street lights for the villages of AKAMASOA in Madagascar

The Humanitarian Association AKAMASOA was created in 1989 by Father Pedro to help the poorest people of Antananarivo, who lived on the dump of Andralanitra and in the streets of the capital. His goal was to get these people out of the inhumane places where they lived, so that they could lead a human life in dignity.

Today, after 26 years of struggle, the AKAMASOA association has helped 500,000 Malagasy. 3,000 houses have been built.

Thanks to the mobilization of Energy Assistance France and ENGIE employees, 9 solar street lights have been installed around the three sports fields present in Father Pedro’s villages for 5,000 young beneficiaries.

Every year on 5 December, the UN celebrates the theme of solidarity through volunteerism with “International Volunteer Day”. This campaign aims to highlight the power of collective action and commitment to bring about positive change through volunteerism and highlight those who give their free time, energy and skills to help others: volunteers.

Growing inequalities around the world call on us to work together to find common solutions. Volunteers, brought together by their solidarity, develop solutions to the urgent development challenges and for the common good

The ENGIE Foundation supports many associations around the world. It is aware that without many volunteers who are committed, solidarity projects would be difficult to carry out.
It is convinced that together we can bring our support to the most vulnerable.
On this day, the ENGIE Foundation encourages you to get involved, to give a little of your time occasionally or regularly for a solidarity action and invites you to get closer to NGOs after you, but also those internal to your company.


Portrait of 2 committed employees, Transition Markers

Tiphaine Houssin

ENGIE Group Employee, tells us about her commitment to Energy Assistance France.

Learn more

Sarah Ouziaux

ENGIE Impact : Segment Manager – Regulated, Institutional & Multilateral Organizations – basée à Bruxelles

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The role of female volunteers: a strong requirement in our approach

Eric Bassac, President of Energy Assistance France:

“At Energy Assistance France, our projects mobilized 31 volunteers, which 22 have participated in missions. 1/3 of the volunteers were women and 6 were first-time starters.

Of the 120 members of our association, 43% are women. Each year, they are more and more committed. We have a perfect mix on the board of directors and our permanent representative is a woman.

Today at Energy Assistance in Belgium, we have 36 volunteers, 6 of whom are women. »

Discover the projects carried out

Sarah Ouziaux, ENGIE Group Employee

Sarah Ouziaux, ENGIE Impact : Segment Manager - Regulated, Institutional & Multilateral Organizations – basée à Bruxelles

Sarah, what is your background?

After a double Master’s degree in France and England a number of years ago, I started my career in wastewater treatment in England. Then, I worked 2 years for Unicef in Denmark, before coming back to France, orienting my career towards the energy power plant sector and finally joining the Engie group in Belgium 12 years ago as a project manager and then business developer. For 2 years, I have been working on gender equality issues in the energy sector.

Why did you get involved in Energy Assistance?

By nature, I cannot fail to be involved in an association. At Tractebel, I envied the colleagues who left for Energy Assistance in Africa, I thought I was not up to the task, not being an electrician and not feeling able to wire panels and an inverter on my own. Then during a conversation with Tony Moens de Hase, General Manager of Energy Assistance Belgium I learned that Energy Assistance needed other skills than purely electrical skills and that I had a place in it. I seized the opportunity and joined EA Belgium!

What was the mission you carried out ?

In September, I was part of a team of 4 volunteers to set up 3 solar panel and battery installations – to allow the pediatric, maternity and laboratory departments of Saint Jean de Dieu Hospital in Boko to continue to operate despite power cuts. This mission was located in Parakou – in central Benin and 9 hours drive from Cotonou.

Your impressions?

My very first feeling was pride to be part of the group of volunteers with a little apprehension about the dynamic that was going to take hold. When we arrived in Benin, we were very well received and accompanied to the hospital where we were staying in a bungalow a little away from the main buildings.

I am extremely proud to have learned how to assemble panels and boxes, take charge of the preparation of colleagues’ activities by locating the wiring of the site, organize and coordinate carpenters and painters, discuss with the director and I was able to resolve some situations thanks to my contacts with the manager of Engie in Parakou in whom I discovered a beautiful person.

Obviously, there are also points for improvement, one of them concerns gender equality, a subject to which I am sensitive and I know that my role was eventually to serve as a role model. So since we also had to train 4 young people, I thought that it was a shame that none of them were young women.


Tiphaine Houssin, collaboratrice du Groupe ENGIE

Tiphaine Houssin, ENGIE Group Employee, tells us about her commitment to Energy Assistance France.

Tiphaine, what is your background?

I am a thermal engineer by training, I worked for two years in a research  office specializing in energy audits of collective housing with the aim of renovating them and reducing their energy consumption.

I joined the Engie Solutions BU 5 years ago as a research engineer in the South sales department. Concretely, I respond to calls for tenders on the creation or renewal of urban heating and cooling networks in order to develop renewable energies in our territories.

Why did you get involved in Energy Assistance?

I chose to work in the field of energy to take part in the climate challenge and change the way we consume our resources.

I wanted to join the Engie group to be able to participate in large-scale projects with a strong and short-term impact. Heating networks impact neighborhoods, entire cities. But I wanted to feel even more useful and go out into the field. That’s why I looked for an association to join in which I could invest myself and in which I could find my convictions. That’s why I chose to join the Energy Assistance association in 2020.

What was your mission?

When I joined the association, I had no field experience. I simply contacted Anne Rotschi, permanent member of the NGO, to offer me as a volunteer on a mission. It was her who positioned me on the mission of electrification of a school and a health center in the village of Goka Kope in Togo.

This mission was funded by Engie BtoC via the Engagement program of its individual customers.

It was organized with our partner the Komla Project and the Togolese Children’s Association, some of whose members were on site at the time of our mission. They are the ones who welcomed and hosted us.

The challenge through this mission is to allow students to follow their schooling in good conditions. The village also wishes to develop literacy classes for adults, mainly women who work during the day. Giving them access to electricity and lighting will allow them to respond to this problem by offering evening classes. Finally, the photovoltaic installation will also provide access health care to all villagers in good sanitary conditions.

The studies and the order of the equipment had already been carried out by two retirees and veterans of the association, Guy Pedron and Bernard Lamour, before I arrived on the project. They ordered all the equipment from a local company located in the capital Lomé. So the three of us left, with Guy and Bernard, in February 2022.

When we arrived our first mission was to check that all the equipment was in good number and in good condition.

We stayed in an accommodation center 30 minutes from the village of Goka Kope.

The village is equipped with a primary school and a kindergarten. There are 230 students, half of them are girls. A health centre was under construction at the time of our mission.

We installed 6 solar panels and the control kit in the main building. Our work went as far as the installation of the entire interior electrical distribution (plug, lamps). This installation was sized to power all the buildings of the school and the care center.

Your impressions?

I have very fond memories of this mission. We were very well received by the village chief, the teachers, and the villagers.

I was very moved to see so much enthusiasm with the villagers to come and observe and participate in the work. Many of them came back with us every day. They were curious to learn how to install all the equipment.

It was quite easy to talk to the men, but almost impossible with the women who did not speak French, except for the two teachers.

Another aspect that appealed to me, but more generally, was soil pollution with the dispersion of plastic bags of all kinds, even in the bush. There is a lot of awareness-raising work to be done among the population to clean up and create a waste service.

Finally, I was impressed to see the organization of the Association, the supervision that we had to carry out this mission in good conditions. I felt confident when I left the France and proud to have left Togo leaving a working facility.

What do you expect from the ENGIE Foundation?

This is exactly the kind of action I expect from the ENGIE Foundation. Allowing everyone to have access to energies and to make available to all the most virtuous energies possible is what motivates me, and I have made it my daily work.

We are now working to reduce our energy consumption, but we cannot forget that some do not have access to this comfort, and it is also up to us to help them develop means of green and autonomous energy production.

Allowing ENGIE employees to participate in this kind of action is a real motivation for me.


International Girls' Day

This year, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl Child. This day, wanted by the UN, is an opportunity to focus on the challenges faced by the 600 million adolescent girls in the world and to promote their empowerment and the respect of their human rights. With one observation: throughout the world, young girls continue to face unprecedented challenges in terms of their education, their physical and mental well-being, and the protections needed to lead a life free of violence.

Let’s recall some numbers:
In 2022, worldwide: 32 million girls who are not in school, 12 million girls who are married before the age of 18.

The ENGIE Foundation is convinced that the role and the future of girls, future women, are essential to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Goals. The girls of today will be the women of tomorrow.

For 30 years, the ENGIE Foundation has paid particular attention to projects that have an impact on the lives of young girls through

  • Access to education, culture and health,
  • Access to energy and essential goods, because without energy there are no schools, hospitals, drinking water,
  • Integration, employment, the fight against poverty, in order to allow an economic activity favorable to the development of the community.

The ENGIE Foundation wants to give young girls a chance.


Focus on 3 projects of the ENGIE Foundation that have benefited more than 1,280 young girls

The ENGIE foundation has accompanied 1243 young girls with the iNSPIRE program

For 20 years, the ENGIE foundation has been one of the historical partners of the NGO Valued Citizens Initiative.
Valued Citizens is an association that aims to inspire individuals to become responsible citizens, determined to lead their lives by engaging in South African democracy and economy.
Since 2009, the ENGIE Foundation has been supporting the NGO on the iNSIRE program.
This iNSPIRE program, aims to address gender inequality and poverty in communities by developing and challenging girls’ self-perception, promoting their emotional well-being and helping them to become young leaders in their communities, becoming the positive role models that young people expect

Today, the iNSPIRE program has reached 1243 student girls who are leading their iNSPIRE clubs in their respective schools to address gender-related challenges that impact their dignity, confidence, and future.
Through this, adolescent girls leaders have led 110,380 students, both boys and girls, with sustainable projects that have brought about iNSPIRE change in their lives and schools.

With the support of the ENGIE Foundation, 36 young girls participated in the WIA Code Ngaparou program in Senegal

The ENGIE Foundation, supported Women in Africa for the launch of the WIA Code Ngaparou program in Senegal with the aspiration to prepare young girls for careers in science, technology and innovation in Africa. ​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​For 10 months, from January to September (2022), these 36 girls from Lycée Serigne Mamadou Lena Diop of Ngaparou, aged 16 to 20, participated in the WIA Code program every Thursday during school periods.
During this program, they were trained, mentored and coached on two main themes:

  • Coding: basics of coding, problem solving, oral presentation of projects.
  • Soft skills” which focus on self-confidence, leadership, setting personal goals, public speaking and discovering new careers.

The objective was to:

  • Familiarize and develop skills
  • Have a first professional experience in the field
  • Networks and communication

Foundation « Un Avenir Ensemble »

Fondation “Un Avenir Ensemble”, acts for the social mobility of France by proposing to the decorated of the nation (Legion of Honor, Military Medal, National Order of Merit) to sponsor deserving and motivated students.

It is a support for students in a fragile socio-economic situation, from the “classe de Seconde” until their integration in the professional life, combining financial contributions and personalized action programs from the Foundation “Un Avenir Ensemble”.

The ENGIE Foundation accompanies the journey of 6 young high school girls with the support of ENGIE employees.


The ENGIE Foundation supports a major project in Africa to fight violence against women

Fighting violence against women, access to energy: a major step forward with the inauguration of the African Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery (AMISI) at Panzi Hospital in the DRC by Dr. Mukwege, winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, in the presence of Mr. Francois Hollande.

A reference hospital in the DRC and in Africa for treating women victims of war violence, Panzi Hospital is seeing the completion of a major development in its action, in partnership with St. Peter’s Hospital in Brussels with a new building composed of 5 operating rooms dedicated to minimally invasive surgery, performed by laparoscopy, a particularly effective technique for treating women victims of sexual violence.

The ENGIE Foundation supported the project by financing the energy equipment of the new operating room of the Panzi hospital, which was built by the NGO of ENGIE employees – Energy Assistance.

This operating block is equipped with high-tech material that will allow the Congolese population to benefit from the latest surgical techniques in the DRC.

This new health structure, electrified by solar panels, thanks to the support of the ENGIE Foundation and Energy Assistance, will serve as a framework for the treatment of women victims of sexual violence and other pathologies by minimally invasive surgery. It is also intended for the training of doctors from all over the continent. 1,800 patients in 10 years have already been treated thanks to Dr. Denis Mukwege and Professor Guy Bernard Cadière.

In the presence of many personalities including Jean-Jacques Mbungani, Minister of Health, Albert-Fabrice Puela, Minister of Human Rights, Théo Ngwabije, Governor of South Kivu and Guy Bernard Cadière, Professor of Surgery, the former Head of State of the Republic of France cut the symbolic ribbon of this new infrastructure.

During this inauguration, François Hollande mentioned that this African institute is a reference in the world. The ENGIE Foundation via Energy Assistance is especially proud to have contributed to it.

This building has the ambition to become a lighthouse that will illuminate scientific research, training and practice in the field of minimally invasive surgery at the level of our country and the continent“, said Denis Mukwege.

The Women’s Reparator praised the support of all those who participated in the realization of this project, including the ENGIE Foundation.


The ENGIE Foundation commits to The Great Bubble Barrier to fight against plastic waste in Portugal

ENGIE Foundation and The Great Bubble Barrier signed a partnership to support the implementation of a new Bubble Barrier in the District of Porto in Portugal. The new Bubble Barrier is the first of its kind in Portugal and will be implemented by Q3 2022. The Bubble Barrier could reduce approximately 86% of all plastic from flowing in to the Atlantic Ocean each year coming from a river in this region.

Plastic pollution is threatening coastlines globally, and Portugal is no exception. According to a recent study the Porto region is home to two of the rivers with the highest levels of plastic pollution in Portugal There is an urgent need for measures that stop plastic from flowing into our oceans. With the installation of a Bubble Barrier in the Porto region, The Great Bubble Barrier will be able to tackle the problem close to the source. At the same time, the system aims to build awareness among both residents and visitors about the issue of plastic pollution, making the impact of the project bigger than just regional.

The Bubble Barrier is an innovative and proven technology that creates a bubble curtain by pumping air through a perforated tube on the bottom of the waterway. The diagonal placement of the barrier directs waste to the river banks which is then collected and removed. A first project was implemented in Amsterdam in 2019 and it is currently operational.

Credits The Great Bubble Barrier
Photo du projet réalisé aux Pays Bas

ENGIE Foundation is proud to support innovation, environment and local action with the implementation of the new Bubble Barrier and to join efforts to fight against plastic pollution in Portugal.  

The ENGIE Foundation is strengthening its commitment to biodiversity and environmental protection through this first project in Portugal.

In Portugal, the ENGIE group has positioned itself on the development of renewable energies, through its subsidiaries, to contribute to countries carbon neutrality.

About The Great Bubble Barrier :

Founded in 2017 by 4 individuals,  The Great Bubble Barrier is a social enterprise which developed an effective technology to stop plastic pollution in rivers using bubbles. 

For more information visit: www.thegreatbubblebarrier.com

About the Technology:

Bubble Barriers bring waste to the surface of a river, where the diagonal placement directs waste to the river banks which is then collected and removed. 

Bubble Barriers catch plastic over the full width and depth of a river and prevents plastic from ending up in the ocean without blocking ship traffic or hindering fish migration.

The 1st long term Bubble Barrier was installed in the canals of Amsterdam in November 2019 and more cities in the Netherlands and over the world are reaching out to implement this solution in their rivers.

 

Caring for life and our planet is what has driven the ENGIE Foundation for almost 30 years. With 33%% of its projects dedicated to access to renewable and sustainable energy and to biodiversity in 2021, the ENGIE Foundation is committed year after year to the environment. The purpose is to participate in ambitious, impactful projects and participate in the collective effort of the 2030 Agenda through the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

To preserve the environment, it is essential to favor clean energy sources … and to make citizens aware of environmental issues.


WOMAN (trailer) by Anastasia Mikova and Yann Arthus-Bertrand

WOMAN features women from every continent, rich and poor, known and unknown. They all share their emotions and stories without taboos. Together, they give rise to a new vision of the world, which is essential for building the future of our planet. After “Human” in 2015, Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Anastasia Mikova present “WOMAN” touching on several powerful topics such as education, poverty, justice and courage. Because it is a priority for women’s voices to be heard, the ENGIE Foundation has decided to support Woman and several associations featured in the film.

“We felt that women urgently needed to speak out and we needed to give them the opportunity to do so. “ – Anastasia Mikova.

2,000 Women in 50 countries

Woman fulfils the desire to look at the world through a woman’s eyes. This film takes us to the four corners of the world to meet the first ones: all these women with different paths in life, shaped by their culture, their faith or their family history. It is also a reflection of today’s world. A reflection that is often gloomy considering all the injustices suffered by women. But above all, this film is a message of love and hope sent to all the women of the world. An attempt to understand their lives, to measure how far they have come but also how far they still have to go. How can this be done?

“WOMAN” is a “fresco” that features the voices of 2,000 women who have agreed to testify in 50 countries. Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Anastasia Mikova have met individuals who are both known and unknown, all of whom are heroic in their daily lives, from all over the world. Aim? Expose some of the injustices that women face, and demonstrate their determination to overcome barriers and stereotypes.

Profits from the film will be donated to the association WOMAN(s) (Women on media and news – school) whose main mission will be to train women and girls from all over the world in media related professions. Through the proceeds of the film and the support of our partners, the association will offer women the opportunity to learn visual professions so that they in turn can speak out for all those who have for too long not been heard in their country.

The ENGIE Foundation is getting involved!

In addition to supporting the film WOMAN, the ENGIE Foundation wished to support some of the women interviewed by the film teams in their actions.

  • Support for female victims of rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Nobel Peace Prize winner fights against an epidemic: rape, which has become a weapon of war for groups fighting for control of the region’s minerals. Denis Mukwege, the so-called ‘Women’s Repairman’, has treated more than 50,000 female survivors of sexual violence at his hospital in Panzi, which he founded in 1999. Victims receive surgery in the facility, using state-of-the-art medical endoscopy techniques, and are also supported psychologically and legally.

Because this women’s cause is at the heart of its commitments, the ENGIE Foundation has decided to support Denis Mukwege. This partnership will involve the re-engineering of the electrical facilities at the Panzi Hospital, in order to provide a power supply as well as to significantly increase the ecological and economic efficiency of all of the structure’s facilities and equipment.

  • NGO for the villagers from Ndem in Senegal

We want to be a partner in action. With the teams at WOMAN, we identified the NGO NDEM in Senegal, located between Dakar and Saint-Louis. An NGO with 4,600 members and many active women, which has been working for 30 years with 16 villages in various fields such as health, education, environment, agroecology and entrepreneurship. It now needs drilling and solar facilities in order to further develop its programme and bring energy to the most isolated areas. We quickly got Energy Assistance, an internal NGO of the ENGIE Group, on board to fine-tune the programme as much as possible!


Testimonials: "Pot@maï", green, socially responsible energy in Republic of the Congo

Launched in 2019 on the initiative of “Pot@maï”, a French non-profit organisation specialising in renewable energies, with the support of the ENGIE Foundation, this programme will help to sustainably improve the living conditions of the 3,000 villagers living in Loubassa.’ It is a worthwhile project that once again fulfils the Foundation’s commitment to providing access to energy for all, and it could not be achieved without a green conscience. Testimonials!

A human adventure, a technological challenge

In a region where 90% of the rural population suffer from high levels of energy poverty, the Pot@maï association, supported by the ENGIE Foundation, is developing a unique programme granting access to green energy for the residents of Loubassa village, around 10 km from Brazzaville. The aim? To build and develop a floating tidal turbine capable of powering an “Essential Services Unit (ESU)” in Lyon, then to install it on the Congo River to supply power to almost 3,000 villagers, a first in Africa!

Commissioned in the coming weeks, the ESU will produce drinking water and electricity, store and process food products and power equipment for handicrafts, agriculture and livestock farming. A local company will then manage and maintain the site. Finally, the site will also be used to train and provide jobs for the region’s young craftspeople and farmers.

Testimonials

Françoise Matondo, resident of Loubassa

“It’s really difficult to buy petrol here, and there’s a shortage of drinking water. We have to cross the river to buy water in Brazzaville. Going back and forth each time, there are a lot of expenses. We are glad that the village is moving forward with this project. We will also be able to keep fish fresh and sell them locally. Here, there is no hospital. We would like to have a health centre. And instead of seeing young people just hanging around, we would like them to get professional training on the project site.”

Maguelonne Chevallier Loubelo, Chief Delegate of Pot@maï

“This project was born when I had the great privilege of visiting the Congo River and meeting its residents. Rubbing shoulders with them, talking to them and working together to build a lasting solution to the shortage of drinking water and fish preservation means. Working on this project presents technical, socio-economic, organisational and cultural challenges, which can sometimes seem insurmountable, but it is a unique experience. The desire to see the ESU in operation thanks to the Hydro-Gen tidal turbine – which owes its existence to the ingenuity and unerring motivation of David Adrian – and the curiosity of witnessing what users will make of it are the drivers of success! Many people have joined us in this adventure and I would like to thank them.”


FIND OUT MORE:

Project file: “Green, socially responsible energy in Republic of the Congo, Pot@maï”
Blog: “All aboard for green energy in Central Africa”


The story of Marie Perline, a beneficiary of the biogas programme in Madagascar

The story of Marie Perline, a beneficiary of the biogas programme in Madagascar

In 2018, the ENGIE Corporate Foundation joined forces with CODEGAZ, an internal NGO at the ENGIE Group, to support the development of biogas as the energy of the future and to improve the living conditions of Madagascan farmers. Thanks to this green energy, the local population saves money, earns additional income and contributes to the maintenance of the region’s biodiversity.

A green energy access project launched in 2018

A little more than a year ago, CODEGAZ was commissioned to build ten biogas digesters to provide energy for cooking, lighting and fertiliser for farmers in the Fianarantsoa region 400 km south of the capital. Biodigesters allow farmers in the region to use organic waste to produce biogas and digestate via methanisation.

Biogas, a source of green energy, allows these isolated populations to cook food and light their homes. As an alternative to wood for cooking, it limits deforestation and promotes biodiversity in the region. Digestate (a residual product of methanisation) is used as an agricultural fertiliser, especially in rice fields.

The installation of the digesters is accompanied by a training programme. The aim is to train Madagascan villagers in how to operate, run, maintain the digesters and use them for lighting and cooking with biogas. Farmers in the region then benefit from a sustainable source of energy and are self-sufficient by using it on a daily basis.

Marie Perline, a farmer, is one such beneficiary of the programme

Marie Perline lives in the bush village of Andohasamahamarina, 20 km south of Fianarantsoa, Madagascar’s second-biggest city. There is no road to reach the village, just a rudimentary track. Without access to electricity, like the vast majority of the local population, charcoal was used to prepare meals and kerosene lamps were used for lighting.

Marie Perline has been able to use a biodigester for a little over a year, thanks to CODEGAZ and the support of the ENGIE Foundation. This installation converts waste from her 3 dairy cows into biogas, which she uses for cooking and lighting, and into digestate that she uses as fertiliser for her crops. Her whole family has benefitted from the change.

Marie Perline has 4 children: “They used to do their homework around the kerosene lamp. They were all at the same table and their eyes were red the next morning. With the gas lamps, they can do their own thing. They’re more focused. And they’re eyes are better.”

The digester also helps her save money on purchases of charcoal (3 times less), oil (4 times less), fertiliser and pesticides. She also earns extra income in her shop, which can now stay open after dark, and from better harvests (tomatoes, fruits, herbs, etc.). She also saves more than 2 hours a day preparing meals thanks to a rice cooker, as rice is a staple of the Madagascan diet. Now she has more time to devote to her family, her pets and her small grocery shop.

This additional income helps with schooling for her three eldest children: the 7-year-old is in primary school, the 13-year-old is in secondary school and she was able to send her oldest, 17, to Hariniaina to study at university.

But Marie Perline does not intend to stop there! She is continuing to develop her work in arboriculture by planting orange trees that reforest the land and will eventually be a good source of additional income. She is also in the process of expanding her herb nursery to produce essential oils.

This is a great example of what biogas can do: it’s a green, renewable energy adapted to these isolated rural areas that also allows women to be more autonomous.


Third year of the Schools, Lights & Rights programme: half-way point

The Schools, Lights & Rights programme was created and financed by the ENGIE Foundation alongside the company’s long-standing partner, “La Voix De l’Enfant”. The association works in Afghanistan, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, India, Morocco, Laos and the DRC. This is a quick update halfway through the project, 9 months after the launch of the third year of the programme.

Schools, Lights and Rights was launched during the COP 21 in South Africa in 2015 and currently has projects in 10 countries focused on two of the Foundation’s major commitments: energy access for all and social inclusion of young people and children. Volunteers work on the ground every day to improve the living conditions of children via three specific tasks: providing schools and other buildings that are used by children with electricity (with Energy Assistance France, the Engie Group’s internal NGO), handing out portable solar lamps and creating civil records.

The aim for the third year of the Schools, Lights and Rights programme is to ensure that actions undertaken since 2015 are there for the long-term and to increase the scope of the programme by getting local authorities involved to broaden access to education and digitise civil records. Volunteers are continuing to register details and raise awareness amongst local populations in often difficult conditions, particularly due to the social issues caused by the influx of refugees and irregular migrants. More than 161,000 additional civil records need to be recorded this year to reach 1 million registrations since 2015. Extending the programme in Laos is currently being studied.

In the “Lights” part of the programme, portable solar units are continuing to be handed out thanks to the support of local associations. In Madagascar, the units arrived just in time in Antananarivo to light up the start of the school year for children there. The children can use the portable solar units to do their homework in the evening, read and get home safely after school. In total, more than 21,000 units will be handed out this year.

New projects to provide electricity to schools and centres of education in isolated areas have been added to the programme this year . Two or three projects will see the light of day this year thanks to the ongoing commitment of the volunteers from Energy Assistance France, the Group’s internal NGO. Electricity access in remote villages improves learning conditions for children and creates a proper space for discussion and fun for all of the residents of the village. New requests for involvement in the programme in Africa and Asia are currently being studied.