The African Development Bank, the Climate investment funds (CIF) and the ENERGY International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy has jointly launched country assignments providing new insights into gender and energy in Africa.
The commissions, which deal with the East African states of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, are also leading future gender-sensitive development sector projects to ensure that men and women reap the benefits of energy interventions.
The launch concludes the virtual event “Gender and Sustainable Energy in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda”, presented by the Bank on 24 November 2020.
The event brought together more than 300 participants from three continents. The panel members, mainly gender and energy experts and high-level decision-makers, discussed the role of women in the global energy transition and the urgent need for gender-sharing of data and evidence.
Vanessa Moungar, Director of Gender, Women and Civil Society at the African Development Bank, opened the session with a presentation on the importance and usefulness of the land commissions.
The data collected for these assignments, as well as the involvement of stakeholders at national level, enabled us to obtain specific recommendations for each country, which can be used by decision makers, policy makers as well as CSOs to make them better informed decisions and to design more effective programming, ” Moungar said.
Annemarije Kooijman, principal investigator of ENERGIA, presented the key information of the mandates and gave recommendations to governments to strengthen gender responsiveness in the energy sector, placing gender equality as a critical factor for an inclusive and sustainable energy sector.
To highlight some of the recommendations, Kooijiman said to help achieve government goals, governments should (i) commit to gender influx, (ii) collect and update data by sex, age, rural / urban, income, (iii) knowledge, and skills developed. in gender analysis, including the provision of guidelines and procedures for implementation, and the monitoring and impact studies conducted (iv) invest in gender-responsive approaches in policies and programs, and ensure budgetary growth.
Participants noted that gender gaps remain a barrier to equal access to modern and cleaner energy services for women. This led to a discussion on how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated gender inequalities in society, including on access to energy. As families spend more time at home due to lockouts and school closures, the need for energy is more urgent than ever, panelists said.
“Women cook the most, cook and take care of the family. As a result, they suffer the greatest effects of energy poverty,” said Nnenna Nwabufo, acting director general of East Africa, African Development Bank.
She said that when women are excluded from energy management, decision-making processes are more likely to lead to policies that ignore the unique needs, knowledge and contributions of women.
The moderator of the event, Anne Kuriakose, senior social development specialist at CIF, also emphasized the importance of women’s climate leadership in the energy space – of participatory planning processes involving women from local to national level; to efforts to expand women’s energy employment, including jobs based on STEM, as CIF investments help catalyze.
In his closing remarks, Professor Anthony Nyong, Director of Climate Change and Green Growth at the Bank, said that the mandates raised awareness of the need to promote gender and sustainable energy access in Africa, and how it could address policy instruments in the national country. information, regional and international levels. “Our ultimate goal is to build inclusive and sustainable economies.”
Click to review the assignments here:
Gender and Energy Assignment – KENYA
Gender and Energy Country Brief – RWANDA
Gender and Energy Commission – TANZANIA
Gender and Energy Country Mission – UGANDA
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