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Women's role
Global provider of expertise
Energy expert Geophrey Oyugi (far right) transforming latrine waste into biogas for cooking in Malakal refugee camp, South Sudan. (Photo: Iban Colon)
2020 was a year of unprecedented challenges, both for NORCAP and the rest of the international community, but we proved ourselves adaptive and forward-thinking in facing up to them.
It is still too soon to say what the long-term consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic will be, but there have already been far-reaching social and economic setbacks, many of which have hit the world's most vulnerable people hardest.
NORCAP education expert Leandro Salazar-Liévano interacting with parents of children in a classroom in Mopti, Mali. (Photo: Alassane Guindo/NORCAP)
Despite worldwide travel restrictions and limited health expertise and capacity in many locations, our experts have to a large extent been able to "stay and deliver" throughout the pandemic. Others have embraced the need to work remotely, tailoring their work to the new situation and improving outreach through digital training, coordination and capacity development.
Chief among the lessons we learned from our experiences in 2020 is the importance of building local capacity and making sure our activities are in line with communities' needs and wants. This means designing programmes that better engage with the communities they are intended to benefit.
Most of our partners have asked for more expertise in these areas, particularly risk communication and accountability, to combat information gaps on Covid-19 which have led to misconceptions, rumours and contradictory health advice, and to strengthen local and national responses to increasing needs.
After a fire destroyed the Moria camp on Lesvos, Greece, in September 2020, NORCAP experts helped rebuild the facilities. (Photo: NORCAP/Alkisti Mavraki)
This has helped us re-engage our support for improved accountability and community participation more broadly. We began several initiatives during the year to better institutionalise and mainstream related work internally, and to prioritise and improve the targeting of our support to partners' long-term needs.
We continued our strategic role in solving challenges in the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding sectors in 2020, with the aim of better protecting vulnerable people's lives and rights.
NORCAP expert Johnny Abbas in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion in August 2020. (Photo: WHO)
As one of the world's leading providers of expert capacity, we were committed to improving preparedness, response and resilience in humanitarian situations, and advancing the UN's "new way of working" by strengthening links between humanitarian, development and peace efforts.
Through our work, we aim to:
Create opportunities. We promote more effective ways of working at the global level and in the field to reduce needs and create choice and opportunity for vulnerable people.
Work together. We develop partnerships and projects with national and international organisations and stakeholders. Collaborating in a coordinated and sustainable manner is the best way to reduce needs, risks and vulnerability.
Develop capacity. We provide experts to develop our partners' capacity. They are well placed to identify and address challenges, improve collaboration and encourage innovative ways of working.
Energy expert Nour Al Najjar, conducting an energy assessment for the Norwegian Refugee Council in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan. (Photo: NRC)
NORCAP's experts work strategically or operationally to solve challenges across sectors, meeting the changing demands of a wide range of partners, situations and crises. Our expertise covers the following thematic areas:
Crisis  response: Developing and strengthening crisis response is a priority for us. Our expertise covers areas such as protection, shelter, coordination, education, health and nutrition, communication with affected populations, camp management and resilience.
Coordination and capacity building: Independent of agencies' specific agendas, our experts are often the preferred choice to coordinate humanitarian, development and peacebuilding efforts with the aim of making crisis responses more collaborative and sustainable. Our information management experts contribute to data gathering and analysis, along with the more elaborate needs analyses and assessments provided by ACAPS. We also strengthen national authorities' capacity to respond to and recover from crises by providing expertise on issues such as gender mainstreaming, human trafficking and legal assistance.
Protection: We provide expertise and capacity building in physical, humanitarian and human rights protection. Our specialists work with field, regional and global operations and improve humanitarian leadership and response through specialised initiatives such as the Inter-agency Protection Standby Capacity Project (ProCap) and regional emergency GBV advisors (REGAs).
Gender: Together with our stakeholders, we make sure that gender equality is at the centre of their work. We recruit and deploy gender equality programming specialists, including senior experts, via the Gender Standby Capacity Project (GenCap). Through this joint effort with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), we make sure that leaders of humanitarian operations adhere to their gender equality commitments in line with current policies and guidelines.
Cash and markets: Our Cash and Markets Capacity Development Project, CashCap, provides specialists to increase the use and effectiveness of cash and markets programming in humanitarian and development situations. It is governed by a steering committee of UN and NGO members.
Clean energy and climate services  : We work with national authorities, regional institutions and international organisations to provide expertise in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Among other things, our experts help to green humanitarian operations, improve coordination and increase vulnerable people's access to clean energy and climate information.
Democracy, human rights and peacebuilding: Our Democracy, Human Rights and Peacebuilding Programme (NORDEM) supports international organisations and national stakeholders in promoting and protecting democracy, credible elections, human rights, the rule of law and peace.
Community engagement and accountability: We believe programmes must be accountable to the communities they serve. We look for ways to ensure that both our partners' and our own programmes engage the communities they work with effectively and appropriately. Their participation is vital for us as a sector to learn, improve and be accountable for our work.
Localisation: The Lake Chad Project supports local civil society organisations in Chad, Niger and Nigeria in strengthening their capacity for organisational development, gender mainstreaming, community engagement and accountability, monitoring and evaluation and financial management. It also supports the establishment of civil society platforms and mechanisms to include local organisations in decision making. Experts are hosted by UN agencies, but work directly with local NGOs and civil society networks.
Crisis upon crisis
Responding to a global pandemic
Internally displaced girls with new backpacks and solar radios in Mopti, Mali. (Photo: Alassane Guindo/NORCAP)
NORCAP's main priorities in the response to Covid-19 have been to adapt current assistance efforts to ensure continued support for vulnerable communities, while also taking care of our staff and experts.
Crises, disasters and displacement have not been put on hold because of the pandemic. On the contrary, Covid-19 has added a new layer of challenges for already vulnerable communities in complex and fragile settings.
As such, our most important tasks in 2020 were to find ways to maintain and strengthen our response, while exploring new and innovative solutions that help to build a more resilient humanitarian system.
"Early on, we found that a crucial key to solving these challenges would lie in local capacity building. During the Ebola crisis in West Africa in 2014 and 2015, the hardest-hit countries developed plans, strategies and ways of coping which also helped them deal with the coronavirus," says NORCAP's executive director, Benedicte Giæver.
The Ebola crisis also revealed the need to address the socioeconomic consequences of a pandemic from the outset, and to involve local communities in the response to ensure local ownership and sustainability, as well as combatting misinformation and rumours.
This has led us to strengthen investments in local communities during the current pandemic through increased cash assistance and by building capacity, knowledge and experience that can be used to prevent and prepare for future crises.
Preparing for crisis
As the pandemic spread, NORCAP aimed to "stay and deliver" as much as it was practical and medically safe to do so. We quickly established a crisis management team to handle our duty of care to our deployees.
To make sure our response was in line with our strategic priorities, a response plan focusing on 12 very high and 50 high risk countries was created. We identified cash assistance, gender-based violence, education, clean energy, localisation, protection and community engagement and accountability as thematic priorities.
Logistics expert Johnny Abbas contributed to ensuring that World Health Organisation offices in more than 100 countries got protective equipment to deal with Covid-19. Here in the Philippines in March 2020. (Photo: WHO)
Education expert Leandro Salazar-Liévano, deployed to UNHCR Mali, explaining to internally displaced children how to use their solar powered radio for educational purposes in Mopti, Mali. (Photo: Alassane Guindo/NORCAP)
Election observer Kine Rusten (middle) outside a polling station with colleagues on election day in Kropyvnytskyi city, Ukraine. Kine was part of a team of NORDEM observers deployed to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. (Photo: Private)
A new type of emergency
Despite the unpredictable situation in terms of travel and limited health services in many field locations, NORCAP deployed a record number of experts in 2020. Whether working from the field, managing work remotely or from their home countries, most of our experts have been engaged in helping communities and host agencies adapt to the new circumstances.
"I am beyond impressed with our experts' flexibility and ability to adjust to the changing circumstances in this crisis. Throughout the year, they have managed to stay and deliver while facing a new type of emergency, bringing with it a lot of uncertainty and x-factors. It has been a challenging situation for all, but we are determined to continue our efforts and build on best practice," says Giæver.
A race to keep children in school
Malian internally displaced children receiving school kits and solar powered radios to ensure learning during school closures due to Covid-19 measures. (Photo: Alassane Guindo/NORCAP)
The people of the Sahel region were already facing hunger, escalating Islamist violence and weather hazards linked to climate change. Around 71 million children lacked access to education across the region. Then came Covid-19.
In Mali, where thousands of schools had already been forced to close because of the difficult situation, children were now experiencing full lockdown because of the pandemic.
"The school closures put children, and especially refugee children, at a dual protection and health risk," says Leandro Salazar-Liévano, a NORCAP education expert deployed to UNHCR Mali.
Financial pressures brought on by Covid-19 restrictions also led to more children being taken out of school. This in turn led to more cases of child marriage, child pregnancies and child labour, creating an ideal scenario for armed groups to recruit children, Salazar-Liévano observed.
Radios and backpacks
Like Salazar-Liévano, most of our education experts remained in place during the pandemic. They supported local and national authorities in integrating preparedness into their education strategies, including Covid-19 response plans that built on our existing efforts to strengthen the resilience of national education systems.
Measures such as sanitary equipment and online and radio classes were put in place to keep children in school, and "back to school" campaigns were launched to reach out to those at risk of never returning to the classroom.
In Mali, Salazar-Liévano distributed solar power radios and school kits to 11 000 children with funds from Education Cannot Wait, so that they could continue learning from home.
"Keeping children in school is essential to their safety and wellbeing. In a region where attacks and teacher strikes have been closing schools, this could be a crucial way of upholding education for children also after the pandemic", he says.
Building teacher capacity
Based on an analysis of the impact of the school closures on children, he also helped to train 120 teachers in Covid-19 prevention and psychosocial support.
A school in Madiakoye, Mali, was severely damaged by armed individuals who entered the schoolyard and fired shots with students present. (Photo: Mahamadou Abdourhamane/NRC)
Education expert Leandro Salazar-Liévano (right) and a colleague with newly received radios, ready to be distributed to displaced school children. (Photo: UNHCR Mali)
Happy children with their new backpacks, radios and school kits in Mopti, Mali. (Photo: Leandro Salazar-Liévano/NORCAP)
"Gender-based violence measures were integral to the training. We prepared teachers on how to uncover and respond to child abuse, and to refer these children to national entities for support. This was a new approach to them and they were highly engaged," says Salazar-Liévano.
Teachers in Gao, Mali during a training session with UNHCR and NORCAP. (Photo: Leandro Salazar-Lievano/NORCAP)
Increased funding
When Salazar-Liévano was first deployed to UNHCR Mali in 2019, the education unit only had $35,000 at their disposal, but by being active in the national education cluster and creating visibility for the cause, he helped to secure $4.2 million in additional funding for 2020 to 2023.
Leandro Salazar-Liévano visiting one of the classroom construction sites that will host refugee, internally displaced and host community children for the upcoming school year in Mali. (Photo: Alassane Guindo/NORCAP)
The funding they received last year led to the building of 33 classrooms and a number of latrines, water pumps and hand-washing stations.
In a country where many schools are overcrowded as a result of forced displacement, this will by all accounts be a valuable contribution also beyond the pandemic.
Resilience in a crisis
A displaced family sheltered at a school in Antioquia, Colombia. (Photo Credit: NRC/Fernanda Pineda)
In Colombia, gender-based violence expert Cecilia Bertolini worked to support survivors through an exceptionally turbulent year.
Gender-based violence (GBV) has been portrayed as a second pandemic to Covid-19, as lockdown and economic pressures have led to an increase in domestic and sexual violence worldwide.
"This was certainly the case in Colombia," says Bertolini, who worked with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and co-led the GBV sub-cluster for the Venezuelan migration crisis.
Gender-based violence expert Cecilia Bertolini (right), before Covid-19 struck with full force on Colombia. (Photo: UNFPA Columbia)
Switching to remote mode
Internal conflict, violence and disasters had already affected millions of people in Colombia before the pandemic, leading to mass displacement. Additionally, 1.7 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees have arrived in the country in recent years, as a result of the crisis in Venezuela.
Covid-19 has only served to aggravate the humanitarian situation, and over the course of 2020 the number of calls to GBV helplines more than doubled.
One of the first things Bertolini and a UNFPA colleague did when the pandemic struck was to develop a new way of managing GBV cases remotely. UNFPA equipped case workers with phones, computers and headphones, and trained them on issues such as data protection and making remote referrals safe and confidential.
The method proved successful, and the team was asked to share it with the rest of the humanitarian and development communities in Colombia and Venezuela, reaching out across the two sectors.
Returns to Venezuela
As the pandemic made its mark on Colombia, another critical issue emerged. Venezuelans who had fled their country's crisis began to return to their home country, as discrimination and economic peril in Colombia had made conditions unbearable.
Because of Covid-19 restrictions, a temporary health camp installed at the border allowed a maximum 48 hour stay for returning Venezuelans.
"GBV case management is usually conducted over several months. But in this case the women, girls and sometimes men who were reporting attacks and cases of survival sex along the migration route only stayed for 48 hours to a couple of weeks. We had to adopt a model of rapid case management," Bertolini says.
The value of female leaders
Another life-saving measure included adapting the educational, psychosocial and recreational activities at women's and girls' safe spaces to remote ways of working.
"We arranged trainings on how to conduct video calls from home, mapping possible communication channels and providing phone credit where needed," Bertolini says.
Cecilia Bertolini with a group of local women in the weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic spread to Columbia. (Photo: UNFPA)
The female community leaders who would normally attend the safe spaces were indispensable in the process.
"They were able continue to provide information on issues such as Covid-19, GBV referral and key prevention messages to their communities," she says.
"Strengthening the skills of local actors and community leaders is a central part of what NORCAP does, and this pandemic has again proved how vital that is."
Effective and dignified aid
Field monitoring in the host community of refugee camp Cox's Bazar, in Bangladesh, where adolescents are learning through textile production during Covid-19. (Photo: Francis Owili/NORCAP)
As the pandemic wreaked havoc on the global economy, it also heightened needs among refugees and displaced people worldwide. The humanitarian community turned to cash-based solutions to provide effective and dignified aid.
In its 10th year, the conflict in Syria has left more than 11 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
As Covid-19 threatened to aggravate the country's health, economic and security crises, there was an urgent need to reach people without contributing to the spread of the virus.
"From the perspective of people in need in Syria who have gone through crisis upon crisis upon crisis, multipurpose cash is one of the most flexible and dignified forms of assistance," says Fe Kagahastian, a senior cash and markets advisor deployed by CashCap to the Whole of Syria response.
A Syrian refugee family in Beirut. (Photo: Sam Tarling/NRC)
The scaling up of cash-based interventions globally during the pandemic was unprecedented, and CashCap, one of our flagship inter-agency programmes, played an important role. Our experts worked across the world to advocate for cash and voucher assistance, and to support Covid-19 adaptations in overall programming.
Supporting a variety of needs
Instead of simply providing food, clothes and hygiene items, the humanitarian community has increasingly included cash among its response options, letting people decide how to spend the money according to their needs.
"Humanitarian cash transfers are not that different from the social protection measures that developed countries have been distributing to people affected by the pandemic," says Kagahastian.
"Every household is unique. We may be distributing winter items such as coats to people who already have them. They could have more urgent needs, such as medicine, or transport fares for work or medical purposes."
A more effective solution
The role of a CashCap expert, which often includes inter-agency support and the coordination of working groups, becomes all the more important during a pandemic. Humanitarian agencies focus their time more on internal programmes and operational adjustments, leaving less time for coordination work.
James Omolo, NORCAP cash-based intervention officer deployed to UNHCR in Burkina Faso, providing cash assistance to 600 internally deplaced persons and host community women to purchase gas kits. (Photo: James Omolo/NORCAP)
"Working at an inter-agency level often results in a much more effective response," Kagahastian says. "Together we were able to work on common policies and share information on market monitoring, advocacy and coordination of cash distribution. As an inter-agency group, our viewpoints also carried more weight with donors and other stakeholders."
Like many NORCAP experts deployed in 2020, Kagahastian spent last year working from home, in her case from Amman, Jordan. Travel restrictions and struggles to maintain a work-life balance aside, she has a positive takeaway from the way Covid-19 disrupted our way of working.
"Before 2020, many in our profession didn't realise we could touch people's lives even from far away. Covid has shown us how," she says.
New solar panels being cleaned for optimal results by local volunteer Michael Gatluak, at the Norwegian Refugee Council's office in Mankien, South Sudan. (Photo: Iban Colon/NORCAP)
NORCAP's climate and energy work in 2020 focused on contributing to UN agencies' transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, and vulnerable populations' access to climate information and services.
We had 30 energy specialists on mission during the year, a record number, upholding our role as the largest global supplier of such expertise to the humanitarian sector.
By developing projects and providing expertise to initiatives such as the Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Energy Solutions in Situations of Displacement, we stepped up our efforts to ensure energy is accessible, clean, sustainable and cost-efficient. We also provided technical assessments and advice for partners such as UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to support their efforts to ensure their humanitarian activities incorporate sustainable energy solutions.
In our work to improve vulnerable populations' access to climate information we discovered that many rural fishing, farming and pastoralist communities in East Africa rely on the radio. We trained journalists in the region on climate reporting to raise such audiences' awareness of the causes of climate change and how best to adapt.
Through partnerships with regional climate and weather centres, we also contributed to better quality data and tools to distribute climate services at the national and regional level.
To learn more about NORCAPs work on clean energy, see this video from 2020:
Replacing diesel with solar power in humanitarian operations
To bring about a global shift to clean and renewable energy, everyone needs to be on board. The humanitarian sector is no exception.
NORCAP continued to strengthen our partners' capacity in 2020 to green their humanitarian operations, and provide clean energy services to the vulnerable populations they work with.
We stepped up our support to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) country offices, as they have shown great willingness to transition to clean energy on the way to achieving carbon neutrality for the organisation.
We provided technical expertise and implemented solutions on the ground to help NRC fulfil its commitment. We were also able to use the collaboration and proven results to initiate a green shift in the wider humanitarian community.
Greener means cheaper
We supported NRC's country office in Mankien, South Sudan, in replacing its diesel generators with solar power. This reduced not only the fossil fuel emissions of the office, but also its operating costs.
The humanitarian sector often works in hard-to-reach areas, making the transport of fossil fuels time-consuming and expensive. The freed up funds can now be directed toward those who need them the most.
"It's a long process, and it's not easy," says NORCAP's Mark Hankins.
"We had to build infrastructure, get the right equipment and train technicians to maintain it. But it's working. It's a huge change for the humanitarian sector. In the past NRC sometimes had to fly in fuel by helicopter. To have your own power supply is a great step forward."
Improving people's access to clean energy
Sarah Pamed checking the gas flame stemming from a biogas plant in Malakal refugee camp, South Sudan. (Photo: Iban Colon/NORCAP)
''There is an immediate need to address the widening energy access gap impacting vulnerable populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. A staggering 600 million persons in Africa, half the continent's population, lack access to electricity," said NORCAP director Benedicte Giæver during the release of our newest energy report in September.
To address the energy needs of refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and host communities, NORCAP set a bold agenda. Early in 2020, we teamed up with the Boston Consulting Group to produce a report that identifies opportunities to use solar energy in complex crises in Africa.
One of its key findings is that an annual investment of about $60 million would enable the transition of about 90 per cent of camp operations from diesel generators to solar technologies by 2030.
NORCAP enables partners to provide energy solutions for cooking and heating. Refugees, internally displaced people, and other crisis-affected populations often cannot access cleaner, more modern cookstoves and fuel. As a result, women and children have to risk their safety to search for and collect firewood so they can cook food over smoky, polluting open fires.
From human waste to cooking fuel
Energy expert Geophrey Oyugi checking on the biogas plan he helped restore and optimise in a refugee camp of Malakal, South Sudan. (Photo: Iban Colon/NORCAP)
There is great potential for using biogas plants in displacement situations, but these types of facilities can be challenging to operate.
Despite these challenges, NORCAP worked with IOM to establish two such facilities in Malakal, South Sudan last year, collecting waste from latrines and converting it into fuel for cooking in a displacement camp.
We identified ways to make the system more efficient, established essential operating procedures and assessed whether the project could be expanded beyond Malakal.
Women cooking in the newly restored biogas fueled communal kitchen in the refugee camp of Malakal, South Sudan. It took some time adjusting to the thought of cooking by using human waste, says energy expert Geophrey Oyugi, but in the end the locals seem pleased with the result. (Photo: Iban Colon/NORCAP)
"The biogas plant in Malakal was connected to a central kitchen in the camp, and the inhabitants were very welcoming of the new technology in the end. They were particularly grateful for the elimination of smoke, the fact that the gas cooks faster than charcoal and firewood and that it reduces risks related to collecting firewood," says NORCAP's Geophrey Oyugi.
"The next phase of the project will involve a cost-benefit analysis of the plant. It is vital to monitor the production of biogas over a longer period to confirm its sustainability in emergency situations, and to identify improvements and opportunities to expand the project."
Providing reliable climate information
Climate expert Yacine Fall interviewing the leader of a women's group called FARHA in Tessa commune, Niger, on the subject of women's access to climate services. (Photo: Yacine Fall/NORCAP)
Climate change is felt around the world, providing stark reminders of the importance of adapting to a more extreme reality. One of today's challenges is to ensure that robust climate information is communicated in a way that individuals and communities can understand and act upon before a disaster strikes.
Last year, NORCAP conducted an in-depth assessment in three rural communities in Niger to understand the access to and use of climate services for fishermen, farmers and pastoralists. It showed that many people rely on various digital and analogue media, such as radio and TV, for climate information. It also underpinned the point that women's participation is key to ensuring that all have access to the right information.
Harnessing the potential of radio
We worked with BBC Media Action in 2020 to produce online courses on climate reporting for East African journalists. This formed part of the Co-production of Climate Services for East Africa (CONFER) project, under which we and other partners work on new initiatives to strengthen climate change measures in a region that is home to more than 365 million people.
"Radio is a key communication channel in East Africa. Training local radio journalists on climate reporting helps rural audiences understand the causes of climate change and how to adapt," says Baraibar.
"Activities such as smart agriculture, sustainable landscape management, agroforestry and ecosystems rehabilitation can help to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change and should be promoted through radio."
Improving information quality
A leader of a female community listening group in Tanzania demonstrates to climate expert Jacqueline Tesha how to operate a solar powered MP3 radio. (Photo: WFP)
The ability to predict, warn and prepare for climate related events such as flood, drought and extreme weather is essential to protect and increase the resilience of communities. In 2020, NORCAP worked with partners at the local, regional and national level to make climate services more accessible.
With our support, the IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre (ICPAC) in Nairobi, Kenya, was able to improve its data visualisation products and tools and increase its provision of climate services at both the national and regional level in East Africa.
Climate information means climate resilience
Disasters such as flooding destroyed homes and communities in Niger in 2020, leaving many people internally displaced.
"The local flood levels observed in Niamey were the highest that have ever been observed in the area," NORCAP's climate expert Yacine Fall reported in October.
She worked with the UN Development Programme's country office and the Niger Meteorological Office to improve the national framework for climate services and to implement community engagement activities to reach affected populations.
"Effective climate information is vital to increase resilience. It takes stock of the current situation, provides forecasts and guides local communities on what measures and action to take," she says.
Climate services are crucial to food security, providing weather and seasonal forecasts as well as advice on which crops to sow in a changing climate. Pictured is Hawa Msami, the leader of a women community listening group in Tanzania. (Photo: Jacqueline Tesha/NORCAP)
The outbreak of Covid-19 complicated the delivery of timely climate information. It made it harder for aid workers, including Fall, to reach those in need, and forced them to adjust their plans and awareness-raising activities.
"Tondikiwindi in the Tillabary region was one of the first communities we visited after the outbreak. We presented seasonal forecasts and informed local people about the importance of climate services. We taught them how to install rain gauges, collect data and distribute information to agricultural stakeholders in the area," says Fall.
"This has enabled them to plan better, make necessary changes or adaptations in terms of which crops to sow and when and find the right tools and partners to support them. We took all the necessary precautions when travelling to the communities and used the opportunity to provide people with information on how to protect themselves against Covid-19. It was difficult to undertake these activities remotely because internet and phone coverage is limited."
Increasing women's participation in clean energy initiatives
Energy expert Nour Al Najjar conducting an energy assessment for the Norwegian Refugee Council in the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan. (Photo: NRC)
In 2020, NORCAP launched a Clean Energy Female Accelerator programme, with the aim of increasing the number of female practitioners in the male-dominated sector.
We deployed five female junior experts under the programme to work on projects across organisations such as IOM, UNHCR, NRC, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Nour Al Najjar was deployed in September to assess, develop and implement a number of recycling, lighting and other energy efficiency measures for NRC's country office in Amman. She also contributed to a plan to use solar systems to cover 40 per cent of the office's electricity needs, supporting NRCs initiative to make their operations greener.
"It was important to identify how existing clean energy solutions could be extended to ensure they benefit and are applicable to both local communities and Syrian refugees," she says.
"Before I joined the mission, NRC had already helped to install on-grid solar systems at 23 public schools, mainly those hosting Syrian students in the north of Jordan. I was also involved in calculating the cost benefits and CO2 reductions inherent in replacing fossil fuel electricity and heating with solar cells."
Strenghtening women's role in securing peace
Former soldiers in Colombia's oldest guerrilla group, FARC, which also includes women, have put down their weapons and instead started attending school. Photo: Ana Karina Delgado Diaz/NRC
Twenty years after the UN recognised that women should have a prominent role in peacebuilding, their contributions are still undervalued and under-resourced. Through NORCAP's partnership with UN Women, the UN Department of Peace Operations (DPKO) and other organisations, we are pushing for a greater role for women in humanitarian programming, conflict analysis and prevention, and building sustainable peace.
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1325 on women, peace and security in October 2000. It broke new ground by enshrining four important issues:
Women's participation in peace processes
Women's right to protection from violence and abuse
Strengthening women's rights under national law and supporting local women's peace initiatives and conflict-resolution processes.
Considering the specific needs of women and girls in relief and recovery measures
Two decades later, women's involvement in peace processes has improved. There are more references to women in peace agreements, gender expertise is increasingly included in mediation support and women's organisations are consulted in peace talks and agreements.
The reality in areas affected by conflict, however, is still very challenging. Current threats to peace and security are more pressing and complex than ever. The number of people in need of assistance has tripled over the past decade, and according to the Global Humanitarian Overview, 1 in 33 people will need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2021. Traditional conflicts are aggravated by new threats, such as climate and health shocks and the escalating violence of extremist groups, much of which directly targets women.
Zhang Ying, a member of the Chinese Formed Police Unit deployed with The United Nations Mission in Liberia, interacts with a girl of the Steward Camp in Tubmanburg. (Photo: UN/Albert Gonzalez Farran)
The Covid-19 pandemic and measures to contain it have disproportionally exposed women and girls to conflict-related sexual violence and increased survivors' vulnerability. All these concerns have impeded global commitments to gender equality, which will have a knock-on effect on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Lack of accountability limits progress
We have a 20-year track record in peacebuilding, including efforts to resolve conflicts, prevent escalation and restore social and political institutions. Many of the knowledge and capacity gaps that the UN system and national authorities face when it comes to gender, peace and security and combatting conflict-related sexual violence, are clearly aligned with our mandate and strategy to ensure rapid expert deployment and capacity building.
In 2020, Tendai Tavagadza was deployed to UN Women as a policy adviser to enhance UN Women's programme interventions on gender, peace and security in North East Nigeria. (Photo: Tendai Tavagadza)
We had a total of seven experts working on these issues in 2020. Two have been on mission in Colombia, one each in Lebanon and Nigeria and one with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The last two experts have support to the African Union's FemWise project and worked on mainstreaming gender, peace and security in the international security and stabilisation support strategy with the UN Stabilisation Mission's support unit in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Lena Kvarving worked with the OSCE's gender issues programme. She found that lack of accountability was a major obstacle to implementing its gender, peace and security agenda. There was also a lack of will and ability among leaders to push through the necessary changes, and the subject tended to be dismissed as a "soft" security issue.
Kvarving conducted capacity-building sessions, distributed research material at conferences and roundtables and supported the leadership on these issues.
"As a result of these efforts, I have observed changes in the way leadership uses the planning tools that OSCE has developed for their gender work," she says. "I've also received positive feedback from the high-level planning group, where gender is increasingly included in analysis and other documents."
Capacity building vital to women's representation
The Covid-19 pandemic made programming and reaching the most vulnerable women and girls in Nigeria significantly more complicated. Inadequate support from the federal and state governments was also a persistent challenge.
NORCAP expert Salamatu Kemokai at the Women's Empowerment Hub, Maiduguri, Nigeria. Conflict-affected women and girls doing knitting. (Photo: Blessin/NORCAP)
Tendai Tavagadza was deployed to UN Women as a policy adviser, to improve the synergies and impact of the agency's interventions on gender, peace and security in the north-east of the country and the Niger delta. She also helped to strengthen women's representation, engagement and participation in formal and informal peace building efforts. She did so by setting up meetings for women's organisations to discuss experiences and lessons learned and establishing an umbrella body for them.
"The advancement of UN resolution 1325 is pertinent, particularly during this transition phase in north-east Nigeria, to ensure gender-responsiveness in all plans, processes and interventions," she says. "Evidence from other conflict and post-conflict settings across Africa demonstrates that building a critical mass of women who have skills in conflict resolution, advocacy and peacebuilding helps toward asserting the women's space and participation."
Tavagadza also provided advice to the Ministry of Women's Affairs and helped to strengthen gender mainstreaming in security sector institutions, including the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. She also set up a national forum for female personnel in these institutions.
Pandemic escalated protection needs
The Covid-19 pandemic reduced women's participation in decision-making bodies in Colombia, mainly because of greater family responsibilities at home. Gender-based violence also increased during the country's lockdowns.
Illustration photo: Ana Karina Delgado Diaz/NRC
We had two experts working in Colombia in 2020, supporting UN Women and the UN Verification Mission, one of whom was Tatiana Aguilera Fernandez, a gender officer. She provided the UN Verification Mission with analysis about women and girls and gender issues related to their reinsertion into society, protection and security.
She also advocated for and contributed to putting in place protection measures for female former combatants from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and their families, and helped develop an action plan to ensure better access to justice, as well as improve the gender capacity in all responsible state entities. Finally, the expert developed and ran training courses and webinars and gave advice and recommendations to the verification teams on engagement and coordination with women's organisations locally and nationally.
Advancing the agenda in 2021
Building on our efforts and experiences in 2020, we intend to play a key role as a strategic partner to research institutions, UN agencies and mandated entities at the national, regional and global level to strengthen their capacity to implement the gender, peace and security agenda and combat conflict-related sexual violence.
Leadership commitment to these issues is often tokenistic and can be challenging to turn into action, particularly in male-dominated security sector organisations and complex multidimensional environments.
Gender expert Diane Felicite Magnikeu Ngamo (on the right), who is deployed to UN women, during a focus group discussion with leaders of the internally displaced women's group in Chad in December 2020. (Photo: Diane Magnikeu Ngamo/NORCAP)
We need to work on several fronts to achieve change, including the provision of practical training, clear examples of the consequences of not addressing the issues at hand, and personal coaching for senior civilian, military and police leaders.
A new project established in January 2021 will advise the Norwegian Permanent Mission to the UN on these matters during Norway's Security Council membership in 2021-2022. It will also develop UN peacekeeping training on the prevention of and response to conflict-related sexual violence in partnership with the UN Department of Peace Operations. The training is a follow-up to the UN handbook on conflict-related sexual violence, which was published in May 2020.
The project will team up with Norwegian and international institutes, to conduct research on peacekeeping and sexual violence in conflict, and to make sure training sessions and materials are up to date.
"Conflict-related sexual violence continues to devastate the lives of civilians in conflict zones, tearing the social fabric of entire communities. UN peacekeeping missions are mandated to prevent and respond to sexual violence yet are facing capacity challenges in environments like the Central African Republic, DR Congo, Mali and South Sudan. Supporting the UN Department of Peace Operations on capacity building of civilian, military and police peacekeepers aims to strengthen the operational effectiveness of UN peacekeeping missions, so that sexual violence can be combatted on several levels, saving and rebuilding the lives of innocent civilians", says Lotte Vermeij, NORCAP's senior expert on sexual violence in conflict.
How to collaborate with us
Energy expert Emmanuel Biririza inspecting the solar-powered pilot irrigation scheme in Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania. (Photo: UNHCR Tanzania)
NORCAP deploys experts on demand to the UN, regional organisations and national governments, and we work with our partners to initiate new projects and strengthen local, national and regional capacity in the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding sectors.
If your office or organisation would like to discuss how our experts might support and improve your work, please get in touch by writing to norcap@nrc.no.
The recruitment of highly qualified and motivated experts is vital for us to maintain our position as a responsive and trustworthy strategic partner. We recruit experts several times a year, and our members are diverse in terms of nationality, language skills and gender.
More information about requirements for applicants and opportunities with us can be found on here.
We have worked closely with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA) to strengthen humanitarian response capacities since 1991. NFMA has provided financial support via framework partnership agreements since 2009 and the current strategic partnership agreement, which includes additional funds for emergency situations.
We also receive resources from the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), the European Economic Area (EEA) Grants, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), various UN agencies, the US Agency for International Development's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and Food for Peace programme, the World Bank and others. Some deployments are cost shared or fully funded by the hosting organisation.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), formerly the Department for International Development (DFID) has supported us since 2012 and continued to fund a range of interventions in emergency settings, including CashCap activities, in 2020.
NMFA and BHA provided funds in 2019 and 2020 for the scale-up of our thematic project on strengthening responses against gender- based violence (GBV) through the Regional Emergency GBV Adviser mechanism. BHA and Food for Peace have supported us with funds for coordination since 2016.
The CashCap project worked closely with and received funding from BHA, ECHO, FCDO, Food for Peace, the German Federal Foreign Office, NMFA, SDC and SIDA in 2020.
Canada, ECHO, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US provided funds for ACAPS in 2019 and 2020. OCHA funds the operation of ProCap and GenCap.


Ultra Wide HD LWP For Android: Set Wallpapers Of Any Size Without Cropping, Apply Effects/Borders/Overlays And More!
One very small area where Android could take a lot of improvement is its wallpaper cropping tool. For most people, this isn't really an issue, but with enthusiast folk who like to work on every fine detail of their homescreen setup, a good wallpaper is considered to be one of its integral parts.
Now, if the built-in wallpaper cropping tool doesn't work, what do you do? On iOS, you would be stuck with it forever (unless you jailbreak and there's a relevant tweak on Cydia). On Android, you look for third-party alternatives and we came across one today. It's called Ultra Wide HD LWP and you can check it after the jump!
Developed by lithium76 from popular Android development forums XDA-Developers, Ultra Wide HD LWP is a powerful wallpaper editing tool that lets you use a image as a wallpaper that way you want it, not inhibited by any of Android's built-in wallpaper-selection tool's limitations.
When you launch Ultra Wide HD LWP, it takes you straight to Android's Live Wallpaper menu from where you have to select Ultra Wide HD. From here, you can jump into settings from where you can edit the selected image's aspect ratio, its level of detail, a wireframe, the type of effect to apply to it (think Instagram-type filters) and select an overlay to name a few things. Once you're done, you press the Back button on your and then tap Set Wallpaper to do the deed.
Ultra Wide HD LWP comes in "Lite" [Play Link] and paid [Play Link] versions. As you can guess from the name, the Lite version comes with limited versions and applies an "HD" watermark to your wallpaper whereas the paid version comes with all features and without watermarks.
We previously covered an app called Wallpaper Wizardrii that basically had the same intention behind it (to be a better wallpaper selection/editing tool), but in our time with both it and Ultra Wide HD LWP, we found Ultra Wide HD LWP to be the app for the simple reason that it is a whole lot easier to understand and use.


We're excited to announce that Flat Creek Dairy & Farm's Montazzio Cheese Is A Good Food Awards finalist!
Seedling Projects is proud to announce the 2014 Good Food Awards Finalists, who represent the best from America's growing movement of talented and socially conscious food entrepreneurs. From Nebraskan Juniper Salami to West Virginian Barrel Aged Gin to Ethiopian Nigusse Lemme coffee roasted in Oklahoma; tasty, authentic and responsible food is taking the nation by storm. Chosen from amongst the Finalists, 100 Good Food Award Winners will be announced January 16, 2014, at a gala in San Francisco. Dr. Zeke Emanuel will be master of ceremonies; Nell Newman, founder of Newman's Own Organics, will give the keynote address; and the awards will be presented by renowned chef and Seedling Projects board member Alice Waters.
This year's 1,450 entries—double the number since the awards launched in 2009—came from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The growth reflects the vitality of the country's food crafters committed to the values of the Good Food Movement, using sustainable ingredients and supporting their local economies.
The Finalists emerged from a one-day marathon judging session September 15 in San Francisco at the HUB SoMa, when 225 experts sampled entries in the 10 categories of beer, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, confections, oils, preserves, pickles and spirits. The top scorers were further vetted to confirm sound sourcing practices, good animal husbandry and transparency in all stages of the supply chain.
"These 200 businesses are a vital link in a healthy food system," Weiner says. "When responsible cheese makers thrive, so do sustainable dairy farms. It was not easy to make it onto this list. Taste scores were higher than ever before, and nearly 10% of the top scorers didn't fully meet the sustainability criteria to become Finalists. But over a dozen of them decided to make sourcing changes when they realized this, and it is very exciting to see more and more of the country's most talented producers become the country's most sustainable."
The Awards themselves consistently bring recognition and sales to the winners. "Good Food Award Winners report growing their businesses 15% to 400%, increasing purchasing from local and responsible orchards, farms and ranches accordingly." Weiner says.
The 2014 Awards Ceremony is followed January 18 by the public Good Food Awards Marketplace at the city's historic San Francisco Ferry Building, where the winners will offer samples and sell their products alongside the hallmark CUESA farmers' market, the largest in San Francisco.


What a cool Eisbr hat! Typical cocker hat with black hair top and transitions in marbled colours. Eisbr hats are windproof, they do not scratch and fit perfectly thanks to their comfort stretch fabrics.
What a cool Eisbr hat! Typical cocker hat with black hair top and transitions in marbled colours. Eisbr hats are windproof, they do not scratch and fit perfectly thanks to their comfort stretch fabrics. Eisbr: official outfitter of the Austrian national ski team.


Arrild Ferieby nestles in attractive and lush countryside, a million miles from the stress and bustle of everyday life. This location could not be better - in the heart of Southern Jutland, and just a short distance from a wealth of sights and attractions. Popular local destinations include to the island of Rømø - well known as being home to one of Denmark's best bathing beaches - and the historic towns of Ribe, Tønder and Aabenraa, all of which provide good shopping opportunities and their own unique atmosphere. Bedroom contains twin beds as part of a bunk bed At NOVASOL we offer over 40,000 hand-picked holiday homes, across 29 European countries. Our huge selection of self-catering accommodation includes beautiful holiday homes near the sea, cottages in stunning country surroundings, villas with private pools and apartments in some of Europe's most interesting and beautiful cities. We aim to simply provide: Quality self-catering holiday properties all handpicked and inspected by our employees, with complete reliability meaning you can trust that we will provide you with the best accommodation for you holiday.
Holiday home suitable for 6 persons . The holiday home is 69 m² and is build in 1986. No pets allowed.} Freezer with a capacity of 40 litres. There is moreover a fireplace.


You've already made a wise investment and purchased a rental property that ticks all the boxes in terms of location and amenities. The next step is to find the right tenants to enjoy it! Yet a major challenge as a landlord is avoiding bad tenants, who could end up costing you thousands in property damages or lost rent. Everyone has heard horror stories of bad tenants leaving the property in a sad state, filled with trash, or even destroyed. Another issue is finding tenants who will always pay the rent on time. Although these types of tenants are not common, putting a screening system in place can save you stress and possibly costly consequences down the road.
Before you advertise your property, you'll want to know your landlord rights and potentially get in touch with a property management company who can help facilitate the screening process. Many real estate agents specialise in rental properties, and can help you make short work of avoiding bad tenants. They have the professional skills and databases to know what to look for and what to avoid. You can start the process of contacting and comparing agents by choosing to register at LocalAgentFinder, to find out more about what your options are.
Leasing agents have extensive experience performing background checks on applicants, making them a good source of information. They know how to see through bad tenants who know how to work the system. In most cases, bad tenants will have had problems with rentals in the past, which is why screening is so important. The following are a few aspects of the screening process that will help weed out troublemakers.
A sparse credit history doesn't necessary mean that an individual will be a bad tenant. For example, recent graduates who have just entered the workforce won't have a long line of established credit. Many agents choose to run a credit check as part of the screening process nonetheless, because it is usually safer to choose a tenant who has good established credit. An applicant's past history can be a good indicator of what to expect in the future, and can show whether late payments are a pattern.
Screeners will look to see if these late payments were a one-time deal or persistent, and how recently they occurred. Another part of the credit report that is open for scrutiny is the applicant's past addresses. It's important to verify that these correspond with addresses provided on the application form, to find out if the applicant is trying to hide something.
Perhaps even more important than a client's past is their future ability to pay rent. If nothing else, you'll want to choose a tenant who has a current, steady source of income. Most property managers will ask to see the applicant's pay stubs for the past few months, and will also ask for employment references including the current employer. When verifying this reference, it may be better to look up the company's number in the phone book rather than relying on the number provided by the applicant. This helps ensure that the screener is actually speaking to the applicant's employer, rather than a friend. During this phone call, the applicant's role at the company and their employment status can be confirmed. This approach may seem extreme, but it's important to remember that many applicants know their way around the screening process.
One of the best ways to find out what someone is like as a tenant is to get in touch with their previous landlords. This will help you find out more about the condition that previous rentals were left in, as well as whether or not the applicant had pets or long-term visitors. One good screening question to ask is whether or not the landlord would rent to the applicant again. If there's any hesitation in their voice, this could lead to more questions to find out why.
Many professional property management agencies have access to a tenant database. These are run by private companies, and show whether or not a tenant has had any legal actions filed against them or if there are any other red flags that have been officially reported. When selecting a real estate agent or property manager using the free dashboard service at LocalAgentFinder, you'll want to ask about access to tenant databases.
In addition to using a qualified agent to screening tenants, another way to protect your property is by taking detailed photographs of your property before anyone moves in. It's best to do this with a digital camera, providing easy access to files. A copy should be provided for the tenant, as well as yourself. If you are using a property management company, they will also need to retain a copy of these photos and may even take them for you. These photos can be used as a deterrent from making any false claims regarding damage later on. They can be used as evidence should your property show signs of damage after a tenant moves in.
If you're on the fence about a candidate but want to give them a chance, you could consider offering them a shorter lease. This could be a good option for someone with very little established credit but steady employment, such as a recent graduate. If you only have the slight reservation of the limited credit history, you could offer six month lease as a trial period. The contract could then be extended or terminated according to both parties' needs. This is one option to discuss with your real estate agent or property manager when looking for tenants.
With proper screening procedures in place, chances are that you won't need to use it. However, landlord insurance is another option to help protect your investment. This insures your building against loss, theft, or damage. There are also policies that specifically cover the cost of unpaid rent or legal costs for chasing up on this lost income. Because these policies will differ, it's best to compare your options carefully to find the right fit.
By following these basic screening principles, you can take the proper measures to protect your investment from bad tenants. Advertising your vacant property and screening applicants can be a time-consuming process, which is why so many landlords choose to work with real estate agents or property management companies. By putting the screening in the hands of professionals, you can improve your chances of finding good tenants and fostering a rewarding tenant and landlord relationship.
There are over thousands of real estate agents currently registered at LocalAgentFinder, many of whom deal with rental properties. Learn how it works and use this resource to compare agent proposals in order to find the right agent to handle your tenant screening needs.
How much does a kitchen renovation cost in Australia?
Next reading How Do Landlords Find Good Tenants?


text:
function LMphotoalbum(varargin)
%
% LMphotoalbum(D, pagename);
%
% or
%
% for i = 1:length(D);
%    folderlist{i} = D(i).annotation.folder;
%    filelist{i} = D(i).annotation.filename;
% end
% LMphotoalbum(folderlist, filelist, pagename);
%
% This function allows building an interface that communicates with the
% LabelMe web annotation tool.
%
% It can be used to label specific images.
%
% You can use this to label images that have some characteristic that you
% want. You can use this function in combination with the LMquery function.
%
% For instance, if you want to create a web page with images only of
% kitchens so that the thumbnails are connected to the LabelMe web
% annotation tool online, you can do the next thing:
%
% [D,j] = LMquery(D, 'folder', 'kitchen');
% LMphotoalbum(D, 'myphotoalbum.html');
%
% This will create a web page with thumbnails of the selected images. But
% more importantly, the images will be link with the LabelMe online tool.
% So, whenever you will click on one image it will call the annotation tool
% and will open that specific image showing the annotations available
% online (not the local ones that you have). Now you can label more objects
% in that image and download later the annotations.

if nargin == 2
    D = varargin{1};
    pagename   = varargin{2};
    for i = 1:length(D)
        folderlist{i} = D(i).annotation.folder;
        filelist{i} = D(i).annotation.filename;
    end
    ADDSUMMARY = 1;
end
if nargin > 2
    folderlist = varargin{1};
    filelist   = varargin{2};
    pagename   = varargin{3};
    ADDSUMMARY = 0;
end

ADDSUMMARY = 0;

Nimages = length(folderlist);
webpage = 'http://labelme.csail.mit.edu/Release3.0/tool.html?mode=i';

l = max(findstr(pagename,'/'));
if ~isempty(l)
    htmlname = pagename(l+1:end);
else
    htmlname = pagename;
end

Npages = 100;
chunk = fix(linspace(0, Nimages, Npages+1));

for pp = 1:Npages

    % Hearder
    page = {};
    page = addline(page, '<title>LabelMe photoalbum</title>');
    if Npages > 1
        page = addline(page, '');
        for k = 1:Npages
            kpage = strrep(htmlname,'.html',sprintf('%d.html', k));
            page = addline(page, sprintf('| %d', kpage, k));
        end
        nextpage = strrep(htmlname,'.html',sprintf('%d.html', pp+1));
        page = addline(page, sprintf(' | next', nextpage));
        page = addline(page, ' |
');
        page = addline(page, sprintf('page: %d
', pp));
    else
        page = addline(page, '
');
    end

    if ADDSUMMARY
    Dpage = D(chunk(pp)+1:chunk(pp+1));
        [names, counts]  = LMobjectnames(Dpage);
        [foo, ndxn] = sort(-counts);
        names = names(ndxn);
        counts = counts(ndxn);

        page = addline(page, 'Database summary:
');
        page = addline(page, sprintf('There are %d images
', Nimages));
        page = addline(page, sprintf('There are %d polygons
', sum(counts)));
        page = addline(page, sprintf('There are %d descriptions
', length(names)));
        page = addline(page, sprintf('Last update: %s
', date));
        page = addline(page, ' List of objects:
');
        page = addline(page, '
');
        for no = 1:length(names)
            page = addline(page, sprintf('
 %s (%d instances)
', names{no}, counts(no)));
        end

        page = addline(page, '
');
        page = addline(page, '

');

    else
        page = addline(page, ' Photoalbum
');
        page = addline(page, '

');
        page = addline(page, sprintf('There are %d images.
', Nimages));
        page = addline(page, 'Click on an image to open it with LabelMe
');
    end

    % Create links for each image
    for i = chunk(pp)+1:chunk(pp+1)
        %imageline = sprintf('', ...
        %    folderlist{i}, filelist{i});
        imageline = sprintf('', ...
            folderlist{i}, filelist{i}, i);

            %[sprintf('%d) %s', ...
        page = addline(page, sprintf('%s', imageline));
        %page = addline(page, ...
        %    [sprintf('%d) %s', ...
        %    i, webpage, folderlist{i}, filelist{i}, imageline)]);
    end
    page = addline(page, '

');

    % Close web page
    page = addline(page, '');

    % write web page
    if Npages>1
        fid = fopen(strrep(pagename,'.html',sprintf('%d.html', pp)),'w');
    else
        fid = fopen(pagename,'w');
    end

    for i = 1:length(page);
        fprintf(fid, [page{i} '\n']);
    end
    fclose(fid);
end

function page = addline(page, line)

page = [page {line}];

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Integrative medicine is a comprehensive medical consultative service by Jyoti Patel M.D. She is triple boarded in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Integrative Medicine and has a passion for empowering her patients with the knowledge to take back control of their health. She specializes in restoring the digestive tract, creating hormone balance, reversing chronic disease, detoxification and revitalizing energy states. She works with both adults and children to find and reverse the root cause of disease. Her unique training allows her to blend both conventional medicine with complementary natural modalities.
Our clinical providers & staff will support you in building a healthier you. Your team includes a Medical Doctor, a Registered Dietitian and an Integrative Mental Health Provider. We will create a personalized plan that will include diagnostics, supplements, a nutrition plan, mind body counseling and practices. No matter what your medical needs are, we believe health starts with having a team that cares about your wellness. When you choose us, you join a medical home. Join our classes and workshops on food preparation, meditation, breath work, movement, nutritional supplements, reversing chronic disease, resiliency training and much more!!
We pride ourselves in delivering personalized, friendly and exceptional medical cosmetics services from the time you book your appointment in our medical spa, during your procedure and at the end of your service. You can count on professional service with outstanding results. Our physician injector, Dr. Jyoti Patel is trained and certified in medical aesthetics such as BOTOX, dermal fillers and Kybella. We are a superior full-service medical spa dedicated to serving all your anti-aging and skin care needs. Our spa provides the best and leading aesthetic equipment/lasers and organic skin care products.
Sign up to hear from us about educations events, health classes, medical blogs, spa specials & events. WE WOULD LOVE TO KEEP IN TOUCH!
Julie specializes in Integrative Mental Health and she believes in a whole body approach to mental health utilizing multiple fields of medicine, various healing modalities, mind-body medicine and nutritional sciences.
Integrative Medicine is putting you in the center of your health. We believe in empowering you to take back control of your health using nutrition, movement, sleep, time for self, spirituality and connection. Watch this 1 Minute Video to understand what we can do for you!


I've been testing Osprey's Kamber 32 for over a year now on a variety of ski trips in all kinds of conditions over BC and Alberta and this well designed pack has proven to be a worthy companion. Well featured, durable and comfortable it quickly became my go-to ski touring pack. And like a lot of pieces that I really like, I found myself using it all the time leading to this long-term review.
Testing the pack on a short bootpack near Blackcomb.
The Kamber (female version is called the Kestra) pack comes in 22L, 32L and 40L versions, this review will focus on the 32L option. I find that packs in the 30 to 35L range ideal for day trips into the backcountry and the alpine. Big enough to take a little extra gear when it's needed but still small enough to ski well.
Osprey has limited the features on the Kamber 32 to the essentials for ski touring, keeping the weight down while giving the pack a sleek and simple look. But not to worry it still has all the key items needed for a day in the mountains.
Reinforced lower A-Frame ski carry loops have a compression strap for a lower profile fit when the pack isn't full.
Access into the main compartment on this non-expandable pack is provided through the back panel. One of the main advantages of this style of access is that the back panel doesn't get covered in snow and consequently get the wearers back wet. It also provides great access as the entire main compartment The main disadvantage is that it can be hard to completely fill / overstuff the pack. This is compounded by the fact that the pack feels tight for 32L.
Main Compartment with the back-panel access open.
The snowsafety kit compartment at the back of the pack is large and fits a shovel, probe, saw and skins without issue. One of the large zipper pulls on the compartment are color coded red making it easy to find and operate with gloves on.
The zipper pulls are large and easy to use while wearing gloves. This red zipper pull is one of three that access the avalanche pocket, the other two are black for some reason.
The Kamber has a very functional assortment of pockets. A goggle pocket is located on the top of the pack and accessed through an external zipper. There's also 2 small accessory pockets. One's found in the snowsafety equipment area and is great for wet or frequently accessed kit like snow-study gear (thermometer, ruler, etc.), a scraper for removing frost from ski bases (I typically use a hotel key card as they're free and light), screwdriver, etc. There's also a small pocket attached to the backpanel in the main compartment that's great for organizing other small items of kit such as a headlamp, sunscreen, etc.
Large goggle pocket on the top of the pack.
The belt has dual pockets for anything you want quick and easy access to while on the move such as some bars or a small camera. However the trade off is that it doesn't leave room for ski mountaineering gear loops. Lastly, there's a hydration sleeve along the back-panel if you're into that type of thing, I not a big fan personally.
Osprey has included a very functional helmet attachment system with the Kamber 32. A small pocket near the top of the pack provides an out-of-the-way place for the bra when it's not in use. When deployed two different helmet position options are available. The bra can be clipped over the top of the bag keeping a helmet high and out of the way if you want to sit on the pack for lunch. Alternatively, the bra can be clipped low over the back of pack reducing the overall height when thrashing through alder.
As can be expected from an Osprey pack the suspension system is comfortable and holds the pack firmly in place on both the up-track and when skiing down. The pack comes in S/M or M/L depending on torso length.
Testing out the Kamber in some deep pow.
Overall: Well thought out and comfortable with all the features that I really look for in ski touring pack. Ideal for day trips into the backcountry.
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text:
Octopus Energy is close to clinching a takeover of stricken rival Bulb in a deal that will crystallise up to £4bn of losses for British taxpayers.
Sky News has learnt that ministers at the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have been told that a sale of Bulb's 1.6m-strong customer base is now the optimal outcome.
Industry sources said this weekend that the government and Bulb's special administrator, Teneo Financial Advisory, were preparing to sign a binding agreement to sell the company to Octopus Energy by the end of this month.
The transaction, which is said to have the backing of industry regulator Ofgem, would be targeted for completion in December, according to one of those insiders.
If completed, it would end nearly a year of uncertainty over the fate of Bulb, Britain's seventh-largest residential power supplier at the point of its collapse.
The government has already been forced to spend billions of pounds buying gas to supply Bulb customers because the company did not hedge its purchases in order to fix its cost base.
Wholesale gas prices have soared over the last year, with Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine having a particularly pronounced impact on global energy markets.
More from Business
Sky News revealed during the summer that Octopus Energy, run by Greg Jackson, was seeking a £1bn taxpayer funding package to seal the takeover of Bulb.
That would allow the buyer to secure sufficient forward supplies of gas to steer the company through the winter months.
Octopus intends to repay the roughly-£1bn government funding over a period lasting a number of months, according to sources close to the situation.
An energy industry expert said on Saturday: "Under public ownership, Bulb has been unhedged and will have cost the taxpayer billions.
"Fixing its trading in an orderly way will take several months to avoid moving the market and making things even more expensive for everyone."
Insiders said the sale to Octopus would deliver the best achievable financial outcome for taxpayers, while also giving certainty to Bulb customers.
Mr Jackson's company is expected to pay between £100m and £200m to take on Bulb's customer base, with a separate profit-share agreement giving the government a return for several years on earnings from Bulb customers.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor, and Jacob Rees-Mogg, business secretary, are likely to be asked to sign off the deal in the next three weeks.
Bulb's collapse in November 2021 was the most significant among dozens of supplier failures, with Ofgem, the industry regulator, facing heavy criticism for its approach to licensing new entrants to the market.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility said in March that the bailout of Bulb would require more than £2bn to cover its operating losses, although that figure is since understood to have soared.
Nevertheless, it is still dwarfed by the cost of subsidising household and business energy bills for the next six months, which the Centre for Economics and Business Research, a think-tank, recently estimated at in the region of £30bn.
Liz Truss's administration is seeking long-term gas supply deals with foreign states but has been warned by Treasury officials that it faces paying a "security premium" because of elevated current prices, reports said this week.
In Bulb's case, the profit-share agreement, which would last several years, would enable the government to recoup a small part of the cost to taxpayers.
Some sector executives have estimated that Bulb is losing as much as £5m every day because of its failure to hedge forward gas purchases.
Octopus Energy's swoop on its competitor in would take its customer base to approximately 5m British households and cement its status as one of the most important utilities operating in the UK.
Founded by Mr Jackson, it has raised more than £1bn from a swathe of blue-chip investors.
It recently completed a $550m fundraising, with $325m committed to support the growth of its UK and international energy technology platform, Kraken.
The accountancy firm KPMG is advising Octopus Energy on the talks about a takeover of Bulb.
Octopus Energy declined to comment on Saturday, while a government spokesman said: "The Special Administrator of Bulb is required by law to keep costs as low as possible.
"We continue to engage closely with them to ensure maximum value for money for taxpayers."
Co-operative Bank in shock merger approach to rival lender TSB
Chelsea FC confirms sale to group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital
Oil majors to reap £11.6bn unexpected wartime profits on UK fossil fuels, Greenpeace projects
Rail workers, Border Force staff and driving examiners resume strike action
M&S chairman warns EU proposals could increase red tape on Northern Ireland trade
Drivers missing out on 10p cut in petrol prices, says RAC
Ukraine war: Key bridge linking Russia to Crimea partially destroyed after explosion

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