Activities

The Core of Promoting Cooperation in the field of SHP:
The Economic and Technical Triangles of Co-operation

Through the triangle of technical and economic cooperation among developing countries, developed countries and international organizations, various companies and institutions from more than 50 countries have become members of the IN-SHP. The co-operation created by the Network has provided a good working environment for the activities of the UN's "Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries" (TCDC) and "Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries" (ECDC) programmes. Supported by the UN and the governments of the member countries the IN-SHP has established a unique environment of co-operation that operates according to the principle of equality and aims to benefit all the parties involved.

Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC) is one of the main fields that IN-SHP has been devoting its great effort into. Through information exchange, publication, personnel training and consultation, IN-SHP has built up strong links with counterparts in both developing and developed countries.

Overview of IC-SHP Services

The purpose of all the activities of IN-SHP (see graph above) is to move closer to its ultimate goal of alleviating poverty through the provision of clean electricity to as many poor rural areas worldwide as possible. In addition to taking part in different phases of SHP projects around the world, the International Center on Small Hydropower (IC-SHP) provides a variety of services to its members and in its host country, China. The Center is in charge of organizing the provision of the IN-SHP services.

The services to members are closely linked to IN-SHP's main objective of global SHP promotion. IN-SHP emphasizes the importance of efficient information exchange, which is a useful way of spreading awareness about SHP and its potential as a tool to alleviate rural poverty by supplying energy. Information exchange between developing countries, coordinated by the International Center, allows for the sharing of experiences and increases the rates of success in developing rural SHP resources. Communication among the various regions enables developing countries to overcome problems together and avoid repeating past failures.

In the triangle of cooperation between international organizations, developed countries and developing countries the IN-SHP performs the role of an intermediary agency that provides the various parties with the information they need or the contact details of those who have the information.

As well as providing international services, IN-SHP is committed to serving the host country, China. IN-SHP promotes domestic rural development by co-coordinating various development and environmental programs with the Chinese government. The International Center is geographically well located to interact efficiently with the biggest SHP market in the world, and an important aspect of IC-SHP's work is matching the capacities and needs of Chinese and international SHP actors. IC-SHP provides the member organizations with the contact information of the Chinese manufacturers -- a service that is valuable considering the relative inaccessibility of China due to the language barrier and other obstacles.