Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

FROM THE FIELD

World Bank Recognizes Shelter Innovations at Catholic Relief Services
13 Nov 2009 13:51:00 GMT
 Source: Catholic Relief Services (CRS) - USA
Liz O'Neill

Website: Website: http://www.crs.org

217466 logo
Emily Ardell (L) CRS technical advisor in Bolivia, and Romina Sanchez (R) CRS advocacy coordinator in Peru, attend the Development Marketplace in Washington, DC. Their shelter design, aimed at helping high-altitude communities in Peru adapt to climate change, was selected to compete in a prestigious grant program sponsored by the World Bank.
Previous | Next
Emily Ardell (L) CRS technical advisor in Bolivia, and Romina Sanchez (R) CRS advocacy coordinator in Peru, attend the Development Marketplace in Washington, DC. Their shelter design, aimed at helping high-altitude communities in Peru adapt to climate change, was selected to compete in a prestigious grant program sponsored by the World Bank.
Photo by Issac Boyd/CRS

Background

•  Climate change

•  Disaster risk reduction

MORE >>
Two creative shelter design projects piloted by Catholic Relief Services in India and Peru have been selected as finalists in a prestigious competition sponsored by the World Bank in Washington, D.C. The CRS proposals were two of only 100 selected as finalists from a pool of nearly 1,800 submissions. The goal of the competition is to identify 20-25 innovative, early-stage projects addressing climate adaptation and its impact on the world's poorest countries and most vulnerable people.

The winner could receive a two-year grant of nearly $200,000.

CRS India has been piloting a model of flood-resistant shelters in the states of West Bengal and Orissa, areas prone to flooding from typhoons and monsoons. Families are often forced to evacuate their homes, only to return to a house made uninhabitable by the water. Many are forced to move to temporary shelters. It's a cycle that happens every year.

The CRS proposal focuses on training impoverished homeowners, local artisans & tradespeople to construct low-cost, flood-resistant houses, using locally available materials and adapting local construction techniques. The CRS model uses materials such as compressed earth block, and reinforced concrete pillars, along with a raised plinth design. The project targets the poorest most vulnerable households in the communities.

CRS Peru, working with our Caritas partners, has been piloting two simple home improvements high in the Andes region, 12,000 feet above sea level. There, impoverished Quechua families live in adobe homes with straw roofs. They burn unprotected indoor fires for heating and cooking during increasingly longer winters.

The CRS shelter project selected for the World Bank competition proposes the installation of trombe walls--homemade solar panels affixed to the north side of the home--that would increase indoor temperature and keep families warmer. The proposal also includes the installation of cooking stoves that channel smoke to the outside of the home via a chimney. These two simple home improvements could decrease firewood consumption by about 75%, decrease black carbon emissions and increase the quality of life for families in the region.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Email this article       Send comments

Topics

•  Climate change

•  Disaster risk reduction

MORE >>

Members

•  Catholic Relief Services (CRS) - USA

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  World Bank Recognizes Shelter Innovations at Catholic Relief Services
CRS - USA

•  EFICOR's Disaster Response to South Indian Floods 2009 - Update 3
EFICOR - India

•  CRS RESPONDS: NICARAGUA, EL SALVADOR DEVESTATED BY HURRICANE
CRS - USA

•  Oxfam reaction to Ed Miliband’s announcement for the future of coal in the UK
Oxfam GB - UK

•  Nicaragua, El Salvador Devestated By Hurricane
CRS - USA

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Obama pushes for greater U.S. involvement in Asia

•  Brazil pledges 36 pct emissions cut by 2020

•  Brazil pledges up to 39 pct emissions cut by 2020

•  ANALYSIS-Obama, Hu climate talk could spur Copenhagen

•  Q&A-Sri Lanka's top general mulls presidential bid

MORE >>

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Background information

Topics
Climate change Disaster risk reduction
Facts & figures
India Peru

Related articles

Breaking stories
 Obama pushes for greater U.S. involvement in Asia (1 minute ago)

Brazil pledges 36 pct emissions cut by 2020 (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 South Asia told to fight dire toddler malnutrition (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 World Bank Recognizes Shelter Innovations at Catholic Relief Services (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 Climate skeptics: Take a look at the Sunderbans (1 minute ago)

Maps
 Tropical storm Phyan (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-11-12T230206Z_01_LPZ04_RTRIDSP_2_BOLIVIA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/LPZ04.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-11-12T230053Z_01_LPZ01_RTRIDSP_2_BOLIVIA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/LPZ01.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-11-12T225925Z_01_LPZ03_RTRIDSP_2_BOLIVIA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/LPZ03.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-11-12T131237Z_01_DEL37_RTRIDSP_2_CLIMATE-AUSTRALIA-INDIA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DEL37.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-11-12T131008Z_01_DEL36_RTRIDSP_2_CLIMATE-AUSTRALIA-INDIA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DEL36.htm

A view of the Huayna Potosi glacier in the Bolivian highlands, some 30 km (19 miles) from La Paz, November 7, 2009. From the Himalayas to the Andes, faster-melting glaciers spell ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Fri Nov 13 21:15:24 2009