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GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA
ENDORSES
SHELL FOUNDATION CAMPAIGN ON
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
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Shell Foundation awareness
campaign launched in 111 Villages in Shimoga district
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Combined action with
District Administration underway
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Inter-ministerial committee
mooted to plan for Indoor Air Pollution Free State
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Toxic emissions and smoke
from cooking claims 400,000 lives in India every year
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In developing countries this
makes Indoor Air Pollution the most lethal killer after malnutrition,
unsafe sex and lack of safe water and sanitation. 59% of these deaths
are women.
Shell Foundation has
undertaken a comprehensive program of engagement in 111 villages in
Shimoga and is partnering with the district and state administration to
drive awareness on the third largest killer in the country, Indoor Air
Pollution (IAP).
Shell Foundation has received
support from the Chief Minister’s office on its proposal to appoint an
inter-ministerial committee with participation of IAP experts, stove
manufacturers, MFIs, NGOs and others to develop a blueprint for State
action. The State Government has positively viewed Shell Foundation’s
proposal to adopt a mission of turning Districts with high firewood usage
into “IAP Free Districts”, starting with Shimoga as a model District.
The campaign currently in
operation in the Shimoga district in Karnataka has received the support of
relevant officials of the State and
District administration namely Department of Rural Development and
Panchayati Raj; Minister of Social Welfare; Deputy Commissioner, Shimoga
District and CEO Zilla Parishad, Shimoga District.
All the concerned departments are now working together with the Shell
Foundation team to find ways to reach the message of reducing smoke in the
kitchen across the district and eventually the state.
The campaign in Shimoga
district is an initiative by Shell Foundation
to
focus on promoting the internationally-recognised, most effective and
sustainable method for tackling IAP, namely ‘improved stoves’, which
significantly reduce emissions and fuel use. At present, the program is
taking the message to 111 villages in Shimoga district through a
combination of on-ground static and interactive activities. The high
intensity campaign is being conducted over a 90-day time period between
October and January 2009.
The campaign is also being
reached to the people through active support from the District
Administration including the health and education infrastructure, village
level health workers and demonstration of campaign for Gram Panchayats.
The current initiative follows
a pilot campaign on IAP conducted by Shell Foundation in 2008 in the
districts of Raichur, Koppal, Udupi and Mysore, which indicated that
although small changes like ‘keeping the kitchen windows open’,
‘installing a chimney or ventilator’, ‘keeping children
away from smoke‘ or ‘use of
dry firewood’ can make a big difference in reducing IAP, the final focus
needs to be on motivating people to change behaviour, with a focus on
improved stoves.
At a press conference on
November 19, 2009 in Shimoga, Simon Bishop, Policy and Communications
Manager for the Shell Foundation said that, "We are very pleased that
the Government of Karnataka has endorsed the campaign on creating
awareness on Indoor Air Pollution. Through this initiative in Shimoga we
hope the activities we conduct will be a showcase for a campaign that we
would eventually like to expand across southern India. Our basic concern
is that women should not be dying as a result of cooking meals for their
families. If we can convince families to adopt improved cook stoves we
will begin to prevent this from happening."
One person around the world
dies every 20 seconds from the cumulative effects of IAP, resulting in
approximately 1.5 million deaths per year, thus
making IAP the fourth biggest killer in the world’s poorest countries,
after malnutrition, unsafe sex and lack of safe water and sanitation.
(Source: World Health Organization).
Shell Foundation
has also developed the concept of
‘standardization of stoves’
to be able to directly
connect the campaign with the improved stoves. The mark called ‘Symbol of trust’ (see top of release for symbol) will appear on the
packaging and marketing materials of all improved stove manufacturers i.e.
those that have passed rigorous tests on minimum emissions and fuel
reduction standards as laid down by international bodies. At the local
level, this mark will double-up as a ‘standards mark’ to indicate an
improved stove that will reduce smoke
levels by as much as 55%, while using at least 40% less fuel.
111 villages, with populations
larger than 2000 people, will be covered in this campaign in the Shimoga
district across its seven taluks namely Bhadravathi, Sagar, Sorab, Shimoga,
Theerthahalli, Shikaripur and Hosanagara.
The campaign running through a
stretch of 90 days includes an outdoor campaign that communicates the
message through posters and wall paintings. The Village to Village
campaign involves engaging local villagers through neighbourhood
gatherings hosting a stream of mobile van campaigns, flip chart stories,
street plays, interactive games and contests to give people a sense of
involvement.
The campaign is being taken to
the doorstep using the concept of Sustained Activist Householder who is an
active local village lady visiting various households and informing the
villagers about the problems of IAP and its solution – use of improved
stoves standardised with the ‘mark of trust’ through flipchart stories and
distribution of leaflets. Smoke-less Stove demos being conducted at weekly
markets will introduce villagers to the benefits and effective use of
stoves by providing them with a first-hand experience of using the stove.
At present, the campaign
by Shell Foundation will highlight to the villagers the presence of
independent improved stove manufacturers like Envirofit and Selco who have
launched a range of clean burning biomass cookstoves in the country
designed by teams of globally recognized scientists and engineers.
The Shell Foundation sees this
awareness campaign as one of the most exciting and important developments
in its Breathing Space program, which aims to achieve a significant long term reduction in IAP by
designing so-called improved stoves that are more emission and fuel
efficient - and by developing a sustainable way to get them in to people’s
homes.
For more information,
please contact
Milan Mathias,
Torque Communications
Pvt Ltd,
Tel: + 91 80 4115
9273,
Mob: +91 99861 20357,
Email:
milan@torquemail.com
website:
http://www.torquecommunications.in/
About Shell Foundation
Shell
Foundation was established by Shell Group in 2000 as an independent, UK
registered charity operating with a global mandate. It focuses on
enterprise-based solutions to poverty and environmental challenges linked
to the impact of energy and globalization. It acts like an investor,
identifying financially sustainable solutions to these challenges that can
be taken to scale and replicated to achieve global impact. By 2010 the
Foundation will have used $75 million to leverage $350 million from other
organizations.
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