Mainstreaming Gender in Energy Policy Working Group 1 Mainstreaming Gender in Energy Policy

Guiding Questions Identify gender constraints and opportunities Select at least two priority policy areas within the sector for mainstreaming gender Define the mechanisms required to achieve the expected outcomes Make a convincing argument to the Cabinet on our proposal

Gender Constraints Women unable to get into professions that help them to pursue careers in the energy field Male dominated (closed male shop) & therefore more openness from males is necessary Women afraid to get into relevant fields Energy policies are gender blind Energy sector is very centralised and therefore access to resources is limited

Gender Opportunities Job creation for women Involvement in the macro economy Involvement in decision making at higher levels Improving livelihoods Energy is cross cutting across other sectors

Priority policy areas for mainstreaming gender Access to clean and sustainable energy services Efficient and affordable energy services

Mechanisms to achieve the expected outcomes Setting clear targets that are measurable and appointing a responsible body to ensure they are met Establishing gender criteria in the financing of large energy projects – (How funding affects male/female) Conducting gender audits to identify weak areas in GMS & developing strategies and action plans to address them

Mechanisms to achieve the expected outcomes (Contd..) Providing financing mechanisms that enable women to move from lower to higher awareness levels (technical training & capacity building) Governments should develop modalities of readily financing such processes Designing projects in accordance with needs assessment (Not all women are at the same level) Gender Ministries should take the lead in bringing the problems of women to the fore

Convincing argument to the Cabinet GMS likely to lead to better targets, results and utilisation of budgetary resources Greater contribution to economic development (increase in GDP in the medium term up to 1-3%) Technical women’s contribution to the energy sector is immense Need to support this with data that clearly defines the gap to be filled through GMS

Convincing argument to the Cabinet (Contd..) It is a right for women to have access to clean and affordable energy services Women are the majority in rural areas and therefore GMS will enable them to deliver on the rural development mandate It will lead to the achievement of a better functioning society in terms of productivity (Labour input/output) & social balance