Save The Children

FACING A DIFFERENT CHALLENGE 

To some extent, every humanitarian organisation is unique in its objectives and modus operandi. This means that our Humanitarian Accelerator Programmes have different uses for different organisations. For Save the Children Netherlands, this meant that they were not (yet) in need of external partners to face the modern and clean energy challenge. Stijn Koster and Janna de Jong, both Humanitarian Programme Managers at Save the Children Netherlands, are instead concentrated on shaping Save the Children’s environmental sustainability and climate change strategy to be further mainstreamed in their advocacy, programmes, operations and fundraising.  

A SPARRING PARTNER 

When representatives of an organisation join a Humanitarian Accelerator Programme, they are provided with a mentor who can offer an outside perspective and guide them through the steps of the programme. When it became clear that the initial project proposal on power supply solutions for remote areas in Nigeria fell through, Stijn Koster’ and Janna de Jong’s mentor was particularly helpful: “I really enjoyed sparring with [our mentor] Laura. She is an expert on the subject and she is familiar with other (case) studies. Laura helped us to get a clear understanding of what a feasible project within the theme of energy could be for our organisation,” said Stijn Koster.  

ACTION PLAN 

Together with their mentor they decided that they would focus on writing a coherent and inspiring action plan that would galvanise their colleagues at the Dutch branch of Save the Children. Janna de Jong: “Energy can be a component of the environmental sustainability and climate change strategy that has been put on the agenda by Save the Children International. I have translated their work with some colleagues into a more concrete action plan for our Netherlands branch. What can we do in 2021 with the capacity we currently have? What can we do specifically within operations, programmes, advocacy, and fundraising? We have tried to operationalise the relevant policy documents.”  

TIME TO CONSIDER ENERGY 

The Access to Modern Energy accelerator programme was a good moment for Stijn Koster and Janna de Jong to really consider what innovation meant for their organisation: how things could be done differently. Stijn Koster: “I have really enjoyed the energy of the programme itself. It has been a very good catalyst to actually sit down and think about this topic in more depth. There are always competing deadlines and priorities and this really forces you to take a step back and really think about what we can do, and then really break it up into smaller steps and making an actual start.” 

Innovation steps towards impact

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