Rural access to energy services is still considered a problem among impoverished rural communities which serves as a barrier to sustainable development everywhere. At the Global Conference on Rural Energy Access held on December 4-6, 2013 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a number of commitments were made by UNDP, WHO, the United Alliance for Rural Electrification and several other stakeholders with the aim of bringing modern and reliable energy services to rural communities. The conference organized by UN DESA in collaboration with Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All), UN-Energy and the Economic Commission for Africa revolve around the central theme of the important role of access to energy services to enable sustainable development and eradicate poverty.
Participants from over 40 countries agreed that the lack of clean, affordable and reliable energy is at the heart of interconnected energy problems in energy poor areas. The discussions and recommendations centered around solutions and technologies aimed to bring energy to help improve the life of these rural communities. For a list of the complete discussion and recommendations, please visit the UN DESA Conference webpage.
For the complete text on please see the full article on Improving Sustainable Energy Access for Rural Areas at the Feature Section of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) website.