Soon after the outbreak of the fighting in Darfur, visible impacts of deforestation became prominent around major towns such as Nyala, which attracted large numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs). Today, the environmental situation is even worse, with communities across Darfur struggling to secure their livelihoods in the face of a dwindling natural resource base. Urban populations continue to swell, creating mounting pressure on natural resources in surrounding rural areas. The Darfur Recovery and Reconstruction Strategy has highlighted the need to reduce the reliance on natural resources to meet energy and construction needs, but this call has not been sufficiently incorporated in the response of the international community.
The Environmental Technology Task Force (ENTEC) emerged from a collaboration between UN Agencies, donors and civil society organisations after the 2008 Darfur Joint Assessment Mission (DJAM). ENTEC’s central theme is the introduction and scale-up of environmentally friendly, alternative construction and energy technologies in Darfur to reduce the current rate of deforestation and expected increase in deforestation when IDPs eventually return and reconstruction begins.
ENTEC is a successful cooperation between UN Agencies (UNEP, UN Habitat, UNOPS, UNDP), iNGOs (Practical Action) and Sudanese research institutions (University of Khartoum, El Fasher, Nyala, Zalingei). The Sudanese Ministry of Environment, Forests and Physical Development and the Darfur Regional Authority have joined the ENTEC group in 2013 to move ENTEC one step further: to use the knowledge base created for awareness-raising, advocacy and fundraising to prepare the ground for the return of Darfuri communities in a socially and environmentally sustainable way.
Learn more about the Darfur Recovery and Reconstruction Strategy, ENTEC flyer in English and Arabic
Read about ENTEC in the UN in Sudan Newsletter
