The Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC), in collaboration with the SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE) will host a virtual capacity building workshop for Gender Focal Persons in Ministries and institutions responsible for energy and gender on Thursday, 27 May.
Mozambican Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Honourable Ernesto Max Tonela will deliver the Opening Remarks.
The Executive Director of SACREEE, Mr Kudakwashe Ndhlukula, and the Executive Director of SARDC, Mr Munetsi Madakufamba, will also address the virtual workshop that will be attended by at least two gender focal persons from each of the 16 SADC Member States.
These important discussions will be accessible to participants in three SADC official languages of English, French and Portuguese, and the regional media is invited to cover the Opening Ceremony.
The objective of the workshop is to build a critical mass of gender and energy stakeholders with increased capacity to ensure meaningful gender mainstreaming in programmes that promote gender.
The workshop is expected to stimulate dialogue among gender focal persons to champion gender mainstreaming in the RE sector.
Energy access is a challenge throughout the SADC region and the provision of energy services has different impacts on women and men.
Women face challenges in accessing RE products and technologies because of availability and the prohibitive start-up cost of installing such equipment. As a result, women walk long distances to collect firewood, which is usually heavy, compromising health and wellbeing.
The majority of women in SADC, especially those who reside in the countryside, face energy-related hurdles and are hampered by extra hours of work due to the type of energy sources available for their cooking and lighting.
In this regard, there is a need for SADC Member States to recognize these gender differences in renewable energy initiatives, and find ways to make renewable energy more accessible to more women.
The virtual workshop for SADC Gender Focal Persons in Ministries and institutions responsible for energy and gender follows a similar meeting for SADC parliamentarians held on 15 September 2020.
At the meeting, Members of Parliament in southern Africa agreed to take concrete action in driving the legislative agenda to advance gender equality in the renewable energy sector.
The Austrian Development Agency has been consistent in their support and contribution to sustainable development in Southern Africa through funding this and other initiatives.
For more information you can contact the following at SARDC: Nyarai Kampilipili – nkampilipili@sardc.net or Kizito Sikuka – ksikuka@sardc.net
