SANF 21 no 50
The nexus between energy and gender is critical in advancing the uptake of renewable energy in Africa and the rest of the global community.
In this regard, it is important for policymakers and energy experts to mainstream gender in all renewable energy initiatives, as well as share experiences.
This is in light of the fact that most renewable energy initiatives tend to overlook gender issues and assume that all energy challenges and solutions impact men and women in a similar way.
For example, women face numerous challenges in accessing renewable energy products and technologies because of availability and the prohibitive start-up cost of installing such equipment.
As a result, they lose appreciation of renewable energy technologies, thus affecting the levels and rate at which countries embrace and increase uptake of renewables.
Furthermore, lack of access of renewable energy products and technologies force many women to walk long distances to collect firewood, which is usually heavy, compromising their health and wellbeing.
It is against this background that the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) is organizing a virtual conference where stakeholders can share experiences of gender and renewable energy innovations.
The two-day conference scheduled for 10-11 November aims to provide an opportunity for stakeholders in the renewable energy sector to discuss success stories, innovations, experiences, challenges, lessons learned and how to carry them forward.
The sharing of such information is critical because when gender is mainstreamed in energy development, the increased uptake of renewable energy initiatives and technologies have the capacity to address and improve the lives of women.
According to the draft agenda, the keynote address to the
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