Mar. 19 – The NGO Sunshine4Palestine attends the United Nations Assistance meeting for the Palestinian people, entitled “Speeding up relief, recovery and reconstruction in post-war Gaza”, scheduled for March 31 – April 1. The conference was originally supposed to take place in Cairo, but it was moved to Vienna for security reasons. The British NGO, registered in Italy and Palestine, has been invited to intervene because it successfully set up a photovoltaic system at the Jenin Charitable Hospital in Gaza, making it energy-independent and functional for 17 hours a day. “The association – comments Barbara Capone, President of S4P and physics researcher at the University of Vienna – was invited to present two plenary talks at the United Nations meeting to illustrate our past and present photovoltaic projects as well as projects regarding water recovery.” Sunshine4Palestine will also present its project to build a desalination plant, tackling the shortage of water resources in the Gaza Strip. By using new technologies “the association wants to redevelop the existing desalination plants and convert them fully into photovoltaic power plants – continued Capone – Each of these desalination centers can meet the needs of a population of 5,000-6,000 people. At the same time, we offer alternatives for the extraction of water from air moisture via hygroscopic salts, which results in autonomous and off-grid structures such as schools and buildings. Finally, we also offer small capacitors that may be constructed with recycled material, to provide for the minimal water needs of a household. With our projects, we want to plant the seeds for a creative future, one that promotes the use of clean energy resources, providing concrete support to those areas that live in particular hardships, as is the Gaza Strip.” (Cle)