Energy poverty is a worldwide phenomenon. For women, the lack of access to energy affects them because of their care responsibilities in the home and inadequacy of essential services (such as water, health, sanitation). The lack of affordable energy also affects women’s educational status, participation in livelihood and employment, and vulnerability to gender-based violence. While gender in renewable energy framework requires women’s participation in energy and technology workforce, women are underrepresented in the institutions of the electricity sector.
Shared the same interests to reduce gaps in energy in-equality and gender in-equality among the global south, Indonesia, Madagascar, Nepal, Kenya supported by Germany through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (Germany Development Cooperation Agency – GIZ) launched Women Professional Development in SSTC in Decentralised Renewable Energy (DRE).
The programme involves fostering knowledge, experience and skills sharing between women professionals in the energy sector, from government, private, academe and civil society through a series of exchanges as well as forging a network among women in SSTC DRE involve countries, particularly having the South-South context towards a more sustainable professional development initiatives.