# data[].attributes.headline
Startup puts tech to work on the Syrian refugee crisis

# data[].attributes.subject
Startup puts tech to work on the Syrian refugee crisis

# data[].attributes.body
They are starting to introduce 3D printers and scanners in many refugee camps in and around Syria

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
With 3D printing, artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality transforming sectors from cars to healthcare, one Jordanian startup saw an opportunity to apply such technology to help some of the 655,000 Syrian refugees living in Jordan.

In 2015, cofounders Dave Levin and Loay Malahmeh turned a group of technology geeks, aid workers and entrepreneurs into Refugee Open Ware (ROW). The startup uses two channels to make a difference. ROW Ventures, an impact investment fund, finds investors to fund makerspaces in Jordan - labs and coworking spaces equipped with laser cutters, milling machines, 3D printers and scanners - where Syrian and Jordanian entrepreneurs can test new technologies. ROW hopes that encouraging such innovation will result in social enterprises that improve life for refugees, such as businesses that 3D-print prosthetic limbs for a fraction of the current price.

In parallel, ROW's nonprofit arm - ROW Labs - provides support to get startups on their feet. From a social enterprise that uses robots to provide education to Syrian children, to advising a Greek NGO on up-cycling waste from life vests into useful items such as shelters, ROW Labs hopes to support the people doing aid differently.

Speaking to Philanthropy Age, cofounder Dave Levin explains how he thinks we can hack a solution to create jobs, reduce aid costs and produce dignity for refugees.

Why did you help co-found Refugee Open Ware (ROW)?

Everything ROW does tries to bring greater stability to some of the world's most fragile places. In the short term, that could be reducing the costs of humanitarian goods, for example using 3D printing to make humanitarian supplies on the spot, rather than shipping it across the world. Or, in the long term by creating economic opportunities for the most excluded so they can live with dignity and purpose. We have the technology now where drones use computer vision to take selfies. It's absurd we can do that and not use the same technology to save lives.
"The three biggest challenges anywhere are always funding, talent and politics"What impact has ROW Ventures, your for-profit arm, had so far?
My partner put in $1m of investment and we've been able to catalyse $10m from that. With the money we've proved concepts and tried to de-risk further investments. For example, in Jordan we built a fab lab - a fabrication lab, or makerspace - with a local social enterprise. The fab lab has trained more than 500 Syrians and Jordanians on 3D printing, basic computing and designing software. From that we were able to gather a consortium to raise €5.5m ($5.9m) from the EU to build an incubator and full fab lab near Irbid, Jordan. In the next three to five years, ROW Ventures wants to raise $20m in order to catalyse at least $100m in impact investments in this space.

Traditional social enterprises shouldn't produce wild returns; I think that presents a moral challenge. But what is attractive is companies with twin models: a humanitarian mission, and also a commercial side built out of your core asset - such as a great team, or a new technology.

What are the difficulties in impact investing in the Middle East and North Africa?
"Our plan eventually is to have a fab lab in Zaatari camp itself; there is huge demand"What do robotics, AI and automation mean for jobs in the Middle East?
The three biggest challenges anywhere are always funding, talent and politics. The politics in the region are extremely challenging and the environment is dynamic to say the least. That makes it difficult to do just about anything. On the funding side, our supporters find it difficult to invest in active conflict areas; you see impact funds investing in South Asia and Africa, but not here. We're trying to build a new asset class for humanitarian technology and innovation in the impact investing world, but that asset class doesn't exist yet. Finally, brain drain puts pressure on talent in MENA. It takes time to build that up.

Industrial revolutions have historically shaped the contours of wealth and power. If it's hard for us to create enough jobs already in areas affected by conflict, how will we do it in future when robotics and technology transform economies and make it harder?

If so much of the technologies of the future are about hardware, then we want to give people access to tools that allow them to create hardware solutions. You can create a prototype of almost anything in the fab lab. Makerspaces have a combination of old-fashioned and digital tools. People can start with analogue tools, such as welding equipment, then gradually work their way up.

We launched the Irbid fab lab a couple of months ago, just 25 minutes from the Zaatari refugee camp. It's built in a special economic zone, which allows Syrian refugees to work and earn a living and also benefits the host community. So far 24 companies are being incubated, there are 16 startups and 8 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a 900 sq m facility, with a coworking space on top. We hope to replicate the model in other places.

Our plan eventually is to have a fab lab in Zaatari camp itself; there is huge demand. The lab there would be less about job creation than about self-sufficiency, reducing idleness and reducing the costs of humanitarian goods if people can make them themselves. We're looking for $1.25m for the first 18 months to get it started.

What potential does advanced manufacturing have in the aid sector?

The aid world isn't viable in the long term. It's essential to co-create solutions with and for communities, not create something in a hackathon in San Francisco one weekend and expect it to work in the field. In 3D printing, for example, we were frustrated with a lot of the R&D being done abroad, with materials that are inappropriate for the environment, such as robotic hands made out of materials that melt in the heat.

We've been working with one company, which just closed a seed round, that produces 3D printed replicas for organs so surgeons can plan operations and use them for educational purposes. 3D printing reduces prosthetics costs by 40 to 70 per cent over time. They are easier to customise, too. A prosthetic arm in Jordan now costs upwards of $2,000; the materials we use cost only $20.

AI and machine learning is also promising. One instance is in helping to clear mines. Right now, clearance teams have to use pictures on playing cards to identify different types of ordnance to dispose of them safely. Hala Systems, a startup we're supporting, is working on an app that takes a photo of unexploded bombs, geotags it, identifies it, and alerts the closest team to deal with it. Technology is no magic bullet. You shouldn't throw advanced technology at a problem because you think it's cool. But - if we use the asset well - it can improve the impact we have in the development sector.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Meet the startup putting tech to work for Syrian refugees

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With 3D printing, artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality transforming sectors from cars to healthcare, one Jordanian startup saw an opportunity to apply such technology to help some of the 655,000 Syrian refugees living in Jordan. In 2015, cofounders Dave Levin and Loay Malahmeh turned a group of technology geeks, aid workers and entrepreneurs into Refugee Open Ware (ROW).

# data[].attributes.headline
Clean energy in refugee camps could save millions of dollars | Working in development | The Guardian

# data[].attributes.subject
Clean energy in refugee camps could save millions of dollars | Working in development | The Guardian

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Stretched humanitarian agencies could save millions of dollars - and reduce carbon emissions, deforestation and violence against women and girls - if solar power and other clean energy sources were installed at refugee camps, according to new analysis released today.

In the first report looking into energy use in refugee camps around the world, a consortium of NGOs, thinktanks and donors says that the refugees' energy use has been neglected by both the international energy access lobby and by humanitarian agencies. In refugee camps, 90% of families have no access to electricity. There's also often no street lighting, putting women and girls at greater risk of sexual attack if they need to go to the toilet at night.

"This as an energy access problem," said one of the report's authors, Chatham House senior research fellow Glada Lahn, at the launch of the report last week. "These displaced people and refugees are part of the 2.9 billion living in energy poverty around the world, but the sustainable development goals and the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative didn't mention them. They are a grey area."

The widespread introduction of efficient cookstoves and basic solar lanterns could save $323m (£212m) a year in fuel costs to humanitarian agencies and among refugees themselves, the report calculates. In Kenya's Dadaab camp, where 350,000 Somali refugees live, the UNHCR spends $2.3m a year on diesel oil and each family spends an average of $17.20 a month on energy, 24% of its income (this compares to 4% in the UK).

However, providing such equipment would require a one-time capital investment of $335m, which with the current way humanitarian response is carried out and funded is an obstacle. "Humanitarian agencies tend to look at immediate response rather than long-term development planning," Lahn said. "One of the main challenges that we found again and again is that the UNHCR and other organisations in this field have very short-term budgets."

The report's authors recommend humanitarian agencies move away from a donations-focused funding model. They suggest the creation of a fund for energy infrastructure that could be accessed by humanitarian agencies. "The idea is to create a facility where humanitarian agencies can borrow money at a concessional rate to make these kind of investments and they will pay them back in time," says Simon Collings from NGO GVEP International, which also contributed to the report. "Investments would initially come from the big development finance organisations, like the World Bank and EU."

The UK's Department of International Development (DfID) is looking into the idea of a fund for green energy for refugees, and hopes that more detail of how it would work can be put in place before the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016. "I think the humanitarian community needs to take ownership of it," said Razi Latif, environment and climate adviser at DfID.

Working with the private sector would be another way to improve energy access and reliability in camps, said the report's authors. "Many of these refugees are established, and people can pay for their energy needs," said Lahn. If private companies were responsible for equipment they could keep them efficient and maintained over time as well, she added, saying lack of engineering expertise at camps prevents machines from working at their best.

Another innovative way to get financing for renewable energy projects in refugee camps would be to appeal to climate-related funding, those involved with the report suggest. "The money that DfID is providing is classified as climate finance," said Latif. "We're using climate finance from the UK to win social benefits as well as climate benefits. That's an innovative way to fund."

Much of the existing renewables provision in refugee camps - clean cookstoves and solar lanterns - is donated by NGOs and social enterprises on a small scale. Lahn said they found "a litany of pilots that have failed", either due to lack of funding or broken equipment that wasn't maintained.

As well as saving money, providing clean energy in refugee camps would decrease carbon emissions: more efficient, less polluting cookstoves and basic solar lanterns would reduce emissions by an estimated 6.85m tonnes of C0 ² a year, the report said. It also found that wood equalling around 49,000 football pitches of forest (64,700 acres) is burned by families in camps every year, in countries that are already suffering from deforestation. Lahn adds: "Women and girls are always relied on to go outside the camp to collect firewood, and the instances of rape and violent attack are just horrifying."

Lack of firewood is also a problem for refugees. The report's authors said many were missing meals because they didn't have enough fuel, while dangerous cooking stoves also carry the risk of fire. Earlier this year 700 people were left homeless after a fire in a refugee camp in Thailand. Using kerosene carries another risk. The researchers found instances of children being poisoned from drinking the toxic fuel, often kept in plastic water bottles.

Beyond solar lanterns and better cook stoves, another solution would be installing solar grids and more permanent renewable energy infrastructure. But the report's other author, Owen Grafham, programme coordinator at Chatham House, points out that is often difficult politically for host governments. "Making any investments for refugees and displaced people is often a tricky sell," he said. "By doing so they are instantly recognising a level of permanence."

But there is increasing recognition that life in refugee camps in the new normal for millions of people. "Many of the camps that we're talking about have been there for many years," said Lahn. "The average time spent as a refugee is 17 years. In the case of Syria, we cannot see those refugees returning any time soon."

The report recommends that refugee camps' energy needs be aligned with host governments' existing policies and ambitions so that projects can benefit both displaced people and locals. For example, in Thailand reforestation is high on the government's agenda and in many countries that host refugee camps improving access to energy is a high priority. Jordan's government is already planning to install a solar plant to provide power to Azraq refugee camp and the neighbouring villages.

"It's much better to invest in something that leaves a legacy for the country and builds better social relations," said Lahn.
Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow @GuardianGDP on Twitter. Join the conversation with the hashtag #EnergyAccess. Topics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Clean energy in refugee camps could save millions of dollars

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Stretched humanitarian agencies could save millions of dollars - and reduce carbon emissions, deforestation and violence against women and girls - if solar power and other clean energy sources were installed at refugee camps, according to new analysis released today.

# data[].attributes.headline
Refugee Open Ware Wants MakerSpaces and 3D Printing to Help the Syrian Refugee Crisis | 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing

# data[].attributes.subject
Refugee Open Ware Wants MakerSpaces and 3D Printing to Help the Syrian Refugee Crisis | 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing

# data[].attributes.body
They are opening and have opened a warehouse in a Syrian Refugee camps with 3D printers to help the Syrian refugee crises.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Regardless of the political rhetoric and bickering over how to respond to it, there is an undeniable crisis in Syria that only seems to be getting worse. As the civil war continues, and with Russian bombs dropping, hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians continue to pour out of a nation torn apart by civil war and into often less than hospitable neighboring countries and the uncertainty of refugee camps. Conditions in the camps are, to put it lightly, less than ideal. The lack of fresh water and food is a constant struggle, while overcrowding often leaves many families, including their children, lacking even the barest of shelter or accommodations.

With 800,000 refugees, Jordan is one of the countries that has been hit hardest by the massive exodus of refugees from Syria. Refugee Open Ware (ROW) is a Jordanian startup that is hoping the principles of makerspaces can help alleviate the strain, improve conditions in refugee camps all over the world and give refugees valuable skills that they can take back with them when they are eventually able to return home. The concept is to bring popup FabLabs to active war and refugee zones and teach locals to 'hack' what supplies and materials they have on hand and turn them into the materials and tools that they need.

The startup was launched last year and has grown into a virtual consortium of like-minded individuals, companies and corporations who are pitching in together to help. Everyone from the FabFoundation to Ultimaker to ColorFabb to dozens of humanitarian organizations and even Jordan's leadership the Royal Hashemite Court have come together - all in service of helping ROW's founders Dave Levin and Loay Malahmeh build their first Innovation Center in Jordan's capital city, Amman.

"Much of what we're doing is trying to disrupt the whole nature of humanitarian relief, of civil defense, perhaps of warfare itself. The whole idea with the democratization of production, which is the main characteristic of the next industrial revolution, is that anyone can get access to these advanced manufacturing tools," Levin told Popular Science.

The 500-square-meter innovation center will eventually become FabLab Amman, and be a community space with the tools and supplies to help anyone make their own technology, and create solutions to unique problems found in war zones and refugee camps. The Amman innovation center is currently open to anyone and has already been used by refugees, educators, students and entrepreneurs alike. The eventual goal of the innovation center is to act as a model that can be cheaply and quickly put in place in other areas, and Levin and Malahmeh have already started working on two new locations. They are opening a second location in Amman and another in the northern city of Irbid near the Zaatari refugee camp, currently hosting between 80,000 and 100,000 refugees. They also want to open up a FabLab inside of the Zaatari camp itself, but are currently working out the details with the Jordanian government.

The FabLabs will be fully stocked with a wide rage of equipment, including everything from basic tools to 3D printers, soldering irons, inexpensive electronic components and computers. The hope is that they can help solve many problems experienced at the camps, such as repairing damaged tools and components, printing replacement parts and even new tools for tasks that they didn't even know they needed. But it can also teach the refugees the skills to open up their own FabLabs and deal with the realities of (hopefully) returning to a home that was turned into a war zone. Obviously tools and equipment will be in short supply, so reusing or repurposing what is available will be a necessity, and the makerspaces can help with the process of cleaning up and rebuilding their homes and lives.

Naturally the problem of unexploded ordnance is going to be an issue in Syria for years to come, and a makerspace is an ideal location to workshop and build solutions. Locals can 3D print inexpensive replicas of the unexploded ordnance to help train the teams who will be disarming and removing them. They can also assemble devices that will help people detect and avoid any unexploded bombs. With the tools available to them in a makerspace it would even be possible to develop web apps that people can use to tag locations of unexploded bombs so teams can come in and remove them without having to extensively search the area.

It is cheaper to design, develop and fabricate both high-tech and low-tech solutions to virtually any problem imaginable than it has ever been before. A makerspace has the potential to help change the world in unimaginable ways. Having a space that is designed for crowdsourcing solutions and full of inexpensive fabrication tools can offer wounded communities the ability to put their lives back together one step at a time. If you'd like to learn more about ROW you can read the great write up about them in Popular Science here. And if you would like to offer help, assistance or donate to their organization you can visit their website here. Tell us your thoughts regarding this powerful new program in the ROW Creates 3D Makerspaces for Refugees forum over at 3DPB.com.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Refugee Open Ware Wants MakerSpaces and 3D Printing to Help the Syrian Refugee Crisis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Regardless of the political rhetoric and bickering over how to respond to it, there is an undeniable crisis in Syria that only seems to be getting worse. As the civil war continues, and with Russian bombs dropping, hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians continue to pour out of a nation torn apart by civil war and into often less than hospitable neighboring countries and the uncertainty of refugee camps.

# data[].attributes.headline
The remarkable way 3D printers are saving lives in refugee camps

# data[].attributes.subject
The remarkable way 3D printers are saving lives in refugee camps

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The remarkable way 3D printers are saving lives in refugee camps

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Refugee camps are usually seen as scenes of crisis. But one startup wants to change that.

# data[].attributes.body
They created a sort of energy box which has clean energy and a light and can charge different pieces of technologies.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In 2014, we launched a global strategy for Safe Access to Fuels and Energy (SAFE). The SAFE strategy offers crucial guidance and details innovative approaches and technologies, including clean or fuel-efficient cookers, alternative and sustainable fuels, and solar-powered lighting.

Improving access to a clean and sustainable source of energy can transform broken lives. It can power health centres and ensure that life-saving medication is refrigerated. Street lighting allows people to move around camps in greater safety at night, particularly women and girls, and solar-powered lamps mean they can work, cook, study, socialize and continue with their lives long after the sun has gone down. Additionally, with a clean, sustainable fuel, or fuel-efficient technologies, refugees can cook meals and avert the malnutrition and ill-health that may occur when using open fires.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 2014, we launched a global strategy for Safe Access to Fuels and Energy (SAFE). The SAFE strategy offers crucial guidance and details innovative approaches and technologies, including clean or fuel-efficient cookers, alternative and sustainable fuels, and solar-powered lighting. Improving access to a clean and sustainable source of energy can transform broken lives.

# data[].attributes.headline
UNHCR - Jordan's Za'atari camp goes green with new solar plant

# data[].attributes.subject
UNHCR - Jordan's Za'atari camp goes green with new solar plant

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
By Marwa Hashem | 14 November 2017 | Français | عربي

ZA'ATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan - The largest solar plant ever built in a refugee camp went live on Monday, providing clean and much-needed additional power to 80,000 Syrian refugees living in Jordan's Za'atari camp.

The plant will reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions from the camp by 13,000 metric tonnes per year, equivalent to 30,000 barrels of oil. It will also deliver annual savings of around US$5.5 million, which UNHCR - the UN Refugee Agency - will be able to reinvest in vital humanitarian assistance.

The 12.9 megawatt peak solar photovoltaic plant was funded by the Government of Germany through the KfW Development Bank at a cost of 15 million euros (US$ 17.5 million).

Za'atari refugee camp goes green

Electricity provides an essential lifeline for camp residents, from lighting shelters to preserving food and maintaining hygiene. Previously, however, the high cost of powering the camp has meant that electricity use in refugee shelters was rationed to six to eight hours a day after sunset.

The new solar plant will provide families with between 12 and 14 hours electricity each day. Residents say the extra power will vastly improve their lives, allowing them to complete their daily chores earlier and prevent children from having to play outside on the dusty streets after dark.

Ilham, a 41-year-old mother of three from Dara'a in southern Syria, said the extra hours of electricity would help her keep her children healthy and safe. "Now I will be able to do the laundry during the day, rather than at night when it doesn't dry and we get sick from wearing wet clothes."

"It's also safer for my children. It means they can stay indoors and do their homework or watch some TV, rather than playing outside on the streets until after dark," she added.

Her son Mohammed, aged 10, said the new plant would help him with his schoolwork. "My family and I use electricity for doing the laundry and watching TV, but with more hours of electricity I will definitely study more."

The solar plant was constructed on the outskirts of the camp, consisting of 40,000 photovoltaic panels arranged in rows hundreds of metres long covering an area roughly the size of 33 soccer pitches. The project provided employment to workers from the local Jordanian community, as well as 75 Syrian refugees living in the camp under an existing cash-for-work scheme.

Gasem, a 31-year-old Syrian who has lived in the camp since 2012, joined the project when it began in April. As well as benefiting the camp as a whole, he said the construction of the new plant had helped him gain new skills and experience that would stand him in good stead for the future.

"Myself and the other Syrian refugees who worked on this project benefited a lot from the experience. We have developed our knowledge and technical skills, and it has also enabled me to find a job working on another solar project outside the camp," he said.

All of the electricity generated by the new plant will be used to power refugees' shelters, ensuring that residents are the prime beneficiaries. The solar plant is connected to Jordan's national grid, meaning any unused power is fed back into the network to support the energy needs of the local community and help the country meet its renewable energy goals.

UNHCR Representative in Jordan Stefano Severe said the solar plant would help maintain vital humanitarian assistance to some 650,000 registered Syrian refugees in the country.

"The plant will deliver huge savings in energy bills for UNHCR, which will be reinvested in other much-needed assistance. With the Syrian refugee crisis already into its seventh year, donor fatigue is setting in, making such savings essential for UNHCR to continue providing assistance to refugees in Za'atari camp and beyond," Severe said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Jordan's Za'atari camp goes green with new solar plant

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By Marwa Hashem | 14 November 2017 | Français | عربي ZA'ATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan - The largest solar plant ever built in a refugee camp went live on Monday, providing clean and much-needed additional power to 80,000 Syrian refugees living in Jordan's Za'atari camp.

# data[].attributes.headline
The world's first refugee camp powered by renewable energy | World Economic Forum

# data[].attributes.subject
The world's first refugee camp powered by renewable energy | World Economic Forum

# data[].attributes.body
The first refugee camp to be powered by clean energy such as solar panels.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The world's first refugee camp powered by renewable energy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jordan now has the world's first solar powered refugee camp.