Dear Sir/Madam,

In today's world, which allows us to enjoy the convenience and wealth that industrial development grants us, it is important to keep in mind that in developing countries there are still 2 billion people living with no access to electricity. Most of these people live in remote rural areas. When the people in other places had celebrated the arrival of the new millennium by firing fireworks and lighting neon signs, the reality of the rural people seemed as if from another world in which people cook using wood and grass, heat their houses with cow dung and use kerosene for illumination. To make our planet a better world for all people, we shall feel it an obligation to get rid of rural poverty and environment deterioration that are worsening day by day in many regions.

Small hydropower (SHP) as a clean, economic and sustainable energy source has been proved to be a successful tool in rural electrification, poverty alleviation and environment protection. China, for instance, has about 800 counties covering one third of its territory mainly electrified by SHP. Most of these counties are in remote areas where population is sparse and economy is underdeveloped. The extension of large electricity grids in these areas is neither affordable nor viable. From 1970s, China carried out a nation-wide program with the title of Primary Rural Hydropower Electrification to explore SHP resources in rural areas, aiming to enable more people to have access to electricity in a short time. The programs achieved great success. Nowadays, apart from Primary Rural Hydropower Electrification program, another two national SHP programs, respectively Sending Electricity to Villages and Replacing Firewood with Electricity are also ongoing with 104 million people involved . These three nation-wide programs have greatly expedited SHP development in China, which has 42,221 SHP stations with total installed capacity of 28,489MW in operation. Moreover, China is not unique in possessing SHP resources; its practical experiences can be repeated in other developing countries. It is exactly for this reason that the UNDP, UNIDO and the Chinese government co-founded IN-SHP in 1994. As the first China-based international organization, IN-SHP has always been a pioneer to facilitate transferring China's small hydropower experience and technology to other developing countries and to promote global SHP cooperation and development.

IN-SHP is a member-based organization with its membership now open to all who are interested in SHP development. IN-SHP's activities are carried out with the aid of IN-SHP members by means of a system called the "Triangular Cooperation" model, which involves collaboration among developing countries, developed countries and international organizations. The more members are involved in IN-SHP's activities and the more active our members are, the more successes the global SHP community will achieve.

Let us have your support and join IN-SHP now!