PEACE & DEVELOPMENT

Solar Cooker Project

Protecting Women, Improving Lives, and Promoting Clean Energy in Conflict-Affected Darfur

The Solar Cooker Project is an innovative initiative of the Darfur Peace and Development Organization (DPDO) designed to address one of the most dangerous challenges faced by internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in Darfur. For many years, women and girls have been exposed to sexual violence, physical assault, and other human rights violations while leaving camps to collect firewood for cooking. At the same time, the scarcity and high cost of firewood and charcoal have made daily cooking increasingly difficult for displaced families.

To reduce these risks, DPDO introduced a low-cost, locally produced solar cooker that uses the sun’s energy to prepare food and boil water without the need for firewood, charcoal, or fuel. The technology is simple to manufacture, easy to operate, environmentally friendly, and well suited to the climate of Darfur. To reduce these risks, DPDO introduced a low-cost, locally produced solar cooker that uses the sun’s energy to prepare food and boil water without the need for firewood, charcoal, or fuel. The technology is simple to manufacture, easy to operate, environmentally friendly, and well suited to the climate of Darfur.

The project has been implemented in Kuttum, El Fasher, Fataborno, Nyala, and Khartoum, where local women were trained to manufacture and use the solar cookers, creating both protection and livelihood opportunities.

Geographic Areas

The Solar Cooker Project has been implemented in conflict-affected communities and displacement settings across Sudan, including:

  • Kuttum, North Darfur
  • El Fasher, North Darfur
  • Fataborno, North Darfur
  • Nyala, South Darfur
  • Khartoum State (for displaced communities)
  • Iridimi, refugee camps in Chad
  • Touloum Refugee cams in Chad

The project primarily serves internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, and vulnerable conflict-affected households, with plans to expand into refugee camps in neighboring countries.

Project Objectives

  • Protect women and girls by reducing the need to collect firewood outside IDP and refugee camps.
  • Reduce incidents of gender-based violence and other protection risks associated with fuel collection.
  • Provide displaced households with a safe, affordable, and renewable source of cooking energy.
  • Improve access to safe drinking water through rapid solar-powered water boiling.
  • Build local skills by training women to manufacture, maintain, and promote solar cookers.
  • Reduce environmental degradation caused by excessive firewood collection.
  • Strengthen community resilience through sustainable, locally owned technology.

Key Features

  • Low-cost and locally manufactured.
  • Requires no fuel, charcoal, or electricity.
  • Boils water in approximately 10 minutes under strong sunlight.
  • Cooks rice in approximately 18 minutes.
  • Successfully used to prepare a variety of meals, including chicken and traditional Sudanese dishes.
  • Demonstrated to humanitarian organizations and government officials, including the United States Special Envoy for Sudan, who participated in a live demonstration and shared a meal prepared using the solar cooker.

Project Achievements

  • More than 8,000 beneficiaries have used the solar cooker technology.
  • Women in IDP camps were trained to manufacture and maintain the cookers.
  • Solar cookers were successfully introduced in Kuttum, El Fasher, Fataborno, Nyala, and Khartoum.
  • Thousands of households reduced their dependence on firewood and charcoal.
Expected Outcomes
  • Reduced exposure of women and girls to violence while collecting firewood.
  • Improved household safety and protection.
  • Increased access to clean cooking technology.
  • Reduced household spending on cooking fuel.
  • Improved access to safe drinking water.
  • Enhanced technical and income-generating skills among women.
  • Greater adoption of renewable energy solutions in displacement settings.

Impact

The Solar Cooker Project demonstrates how a simple, locally appropriate innovation can deliver multiple humanitarian benefits. By replacing firewood with solar energy, the project has helped protect thousands of women and girls from unnecessary exposure to violence while improving health, reducing environmental degradation, and lowering household costs.

Beyond providing clean energy, the initiative has empowered women through practical skills training and local production, creating opportunities for income generation and community leadership. The project has become a model of how renewable energy can contribute simultaneously to protection, gender equality, environmental sustainability, and resilience in conflict-affected communities.

Future Vision

DPDO aims to expand the Solar Cooker Project to internally displaced persons and refugee camps throughout Sudan and neighboring countries. Future phases will focus on increasing local production, strengthening women’s cooperatives, improving cooker design, and partnering with humanitarian agencies and donors to reach tens of thousands of additional vulnerable families with safe, clean, and affordable cooking technology.

Dr. Sabah Al-Shabebi (UAE)

Board Member

Dr. Sabah holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from Sanaa University, Republic of Yemen. She is a certified obstetrician and gynecologist by the Jordanian Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Arab Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Prior to her current role as Deputy Director of the Modern Medicine Center, she served as an Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist at the Dubai Health Authority, Director General of Sharjah City Medical Center, and Medical Director of the National Center of Modern Medicine. Dr. Sabah is a member of the Emirates Medical Association and currently serves as the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Consulting and Training Group (Five and One Training Centre) within Mohammed bin Rashid’s projects – Government of Dubai. Additionally, she is the Chairman of KENZEL FACILITY MANAGEMENT within Mohammed bin Rashid’s projects – Government of Dubai. Dr. Sabah’s extensive experience and leadership in the medical industry make her a valuable asset to our DPDO organization.

Shiri Kalai

Assistant of programs

Shiri Kalai is an MSPH student in the Social and Behavioral Interventions program for International Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is completing her practicum with HEAL. In addition to joining the HEAL team, Shiri works with Key Point Health Services helping children in Baltimore City and County with their mental health symptom and behavioral management. She is anative Spanish speaker and is excited to work with Darfur Peace and Development to provide humanitarian relief to those in need!

Maisoon Ateem

Deputy Director of Health Program

Maisoon Ateem, Deputy Director of Health Program Maisoon has over 10 years of experience working in the field of public and global health. She graduated from Johns Hopkins Master of Applied Science (MAS) in Global Health Planning and Management and studied as an undergraduate in Sudan. Upon her graduation with a BA in Medical Science from Sudan University of Science and Technology, she worked for the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) among other UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Sudan and the USA. Her focus was conflict-affected populations in particular women and Internally Displaced People (IDPs) with special attention on survivors of sexual violence and people living with HIV/AIDs. She has been involved in all stages of emergency and reproductive health design and implementation and dedicates her career to bridging access to quality healthcare at the community and individual levels. A strong advocate for education, Maisoon works to integrate various aspects of her practical and personal experience into helping to make the world a better place for all.

Susan Burgess-lent

Vice President & Director of Operation

Ms. Burgess-Lent began her career in humanitarian relief and development in 1994 and has worked extensively in East Africa. She is the former Program Director of Darfur Peace and Development Organization (DPDO), responsible for the funding and operation of Kassab Women’s Center, the model on which WCI’s work is based. She previously served as a consultant to the African Immigrant and Refugee Foundation (AIF), InterAction, CEPDA, and on staff at the American Red Cross International Services. In 2019, she published the non-fiction book Trouble Ahead: Dangerous Missions with Desperate People, about her work in Africa. She has presented speeches for many organizations about the impact of war and poverty on women, and solutions that can be implemented for their benefit.

Dr. Sabah Al-Shabebi

Board Member

Dr. Sabah holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from Sanaa University, Republic of Yemen. She is a certified obstetrician and gynecologist by the Jordanian Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the Arab Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Prior to her current role as Deputy Director of the Modern Medicine Center, she served as an Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist at the Dubai Health Authority, Director General of Sharjah City Medical Center, and Medical Director of the National Center of Modern Medicine. Dr. Sabah is a member of the Emirates Medical Association and currently serves as the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Consulting and Training Group (Five and One Training Centre) within Mohammed bin Rashid’s projects – Government of Dubai. Additionally, she is the Chairman of KENZEL FACILITY MANAGEMENT within Mohammed bin Rashid’s projects – Government of Dubai. Dr. Sabah’s extensive experience and leadership in the medical industry make her a valuable asset to our DPDO organization.

Cindy Castano

Treasure - Board of Directors

Cindy Castano is the president of Alpha Management Group, Inc. (AMG), which is an organization that focuses on business development, management and documentary film production. She has 30 years’ experience in client relations, sales and business development and has been a licensed investment advisor. Prior to founding AMG, amongst several positions in sales/marketing, Cindy has worked in the investment/financial markets of USA, London, England and Geneva, Switzerland, specializing in high value, multi-million dollar accounts. Documentary film production is one of the primary elements of AMG’s business and is structured under AMG Media, a division of Alpha Management Group. Ms. Castano is currently acting as writer, editor, and producer for a documentary entitled “MY SLAVE, MY INFIDEL,” which is in production. The film focuses on the slave trade in Southern Sudan and has expanded filming as events continue to unfold Darfur, Sudan. AMG also has a documentary in negotiations which will focus specifically on the genocidal conflict in Darfur.

Dr. Suliman A. Giddo

President ,Board Member

Dr. Suliman A. Giddo is a highly accomplished expert with over twenty years of intensive and comprehensive experience in leadership, international relations, strategic planning, conflict resolution and disaster and emergency management; having successfully created strategic plans for governments and private institutions in the Middle East, Africa, and the United States. He is also a renowned academic and researcher at George Mason University, with a proven track record of excellence in teaching at American universities including the School of Business at Indiana, and serving in senior positions for several international organizations, including the prestigious American Red Cross, Management System International and Qatar Foundation. Dr. Giddo’s extensive experience includes serving as a consultant for the UA-UN joint mission. He also served as a board member for several institutions and organizations.

Dr.Giddo is the dynamic founder and president of Sub-Saharan University, which offers eight programs in diverse fields such as medicine and general surgery, nursing, medical lab, business administration, information technology, computer network, and banking and finance, with over 2000 enrolled students mostly from Internal Displaced Persons.

Dr. Giddo earned his Ph.D. in Peace Studies and Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University in the United States, where he demonstrated exceptional academic prowess. He also completed postgraduate studies in Humanitarian Assistance from Fordham University in New York, a Master of Science in Business Administration/Accounting from Strayer University in Virginia, where he was an outstanding alumni (2008), and post-graduate studies in Strategic Planning and Project Management from the prestigious Stanford University in California. Dr. Giddo obtained his B.Sc. in Business Administration from the University of Khartoum.