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Energy, Poverty & Gender: Finding the energy to address gender issues

Energy, Poverty & Gender: Finding the energy to address gender issues. Sobiah Becker Pak German Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency programme March 28, 2009. Energy and its linkages to development.

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Energy, Poverty & Gender: Finding the energy to address gender issues

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  1. Energy, Poverty & Gender: Finding the energy to address gender issues Sobiah Becker Pak German Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency programme March 28, 2009

  2. Energy and its linkages to development • Energy is not just a driver of economic growth but also contributes to sustainable development • Access to modern forms of energy ensures better lives • Access to modern energy but the access to services that modern energy provides which makes the difference!

  3. Energy and Poverty Energy and poverty are strongly interlinked: access to energy services contributes to achieving the Millennium Development Goals

  4. Energy, poverty and gender: the facts • 45% of the population in Pakistan lack access to modern energy • Non-traditional fuels carry environmental, health impacts • Greater burden on women (and children) as they are the primary energy procurers • Societal roles ensure that women and children are the poorest of the poor! • Indoor air pollution causes lung and respiratory diseases, eye diseases, blindness, tuberculosis, and death • Main affectees of indoor air pollution are women and children • Gender dimension of energy and poverty needs to be addressed

  5. Challenges • Ensuring equitable access to energy services for men and women • Men and women use energy differently! • Shift away from the “Basic energy services to meet basic household needs” paradigm • Energy services for productive use of energy - income generating activities of women • What the government, energy service companies (RESCOs and ESCOs) can do to promote gender responsive services

  6. Opportunities • Several opportunities present themselves: • The development of improved cooking devices which use biofuels more efficiently to reduce women’s drudgery and damage • Introduce clean, green energy (solar, wind, biomass, hydro), incentivize it, assure access for women • Gender neutral technology infusion: involve women in the O&M of energy technologies • Focus on productive use of energy: activities like water pumping, agricultural processing, cottage industries, income generating activities for women • Develop market mechanisms to ensure energy for the poor, recognize the role of women as good energy managers • An understanding of gender roles makes business sense!

  7. What can we do? • Government: formulate gender responsive energy policies for equitable, sustainable development of energy • Entrepreneurs: create business models which have an inherent understanding of gender roles, for better products, services and delivery • Financial institutions: create instruments to facilitate access to modern energy services especially for women like Grameen Shakti in Bangladesh • Civil Society, NGOs: create greater understanding of women’s issues in energy, advocacy and training • Development Organizations: facilitate the development and implementation of energy initiatives with strong gender components

  8. Thank you

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