Secretary Clinton Recruits Seven More African Allies for Clean Cookstoves

Secretary Clinton Helps Secure Seven Additional African Nations to Join the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

June 16, 2011

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On the heels of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s visit to Africa, seven African nations have joined the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. The governments of Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda and Tanzania, together with the Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, committed to join the public-private partnership to help save lives around the world.

These new Alliance partners have set goals to collectively reach nearly 20 million African homes with clean stoves and fuels by 2020, and ultimately help achieve the Alliance’s 100 by 20 goal, which calls for 100 million homes to adopt clean and efficient stoves and fuels by 2020.

The new African members join the nearly 100 partners which include national governments, UN agencies, private companies and non-governmental organizations already mobilized to overcome market barriers and achieve global-scale production, deployment, and use of clean cookstoves in the developing world.

Encouraging the development and use of clean cooking solutions in cultures, communities, and countries throughout the developing world is consistent with the core principles of U.S. foreign policy and development efforts, which focus on improving the lives of the world’s most vulnerable populations. The U.S. government has committed more than $50 million to the Alliance over five years. With the help of more than six federal agencies, the U.S. government is mobilizing financial resources, providing top-level U.S. experts, and leveraging research and development tools to help the Alliance achieve its 100 by 20 target.

On September 21, 2010, Secretary Clinton announced the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a public-private partnership led by the UN Foundation, to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and combat climate change by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions. In May 2011, academy-award winning actress Julia Roberts became Global Ambassador of the Alliance.

To learn more about the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, visit www.cleancookstoves.org orhttp://www.state.gov/s/partnerships/cleancookstoves/.