Gender in energy

The Norwegian Action Plan for Women's Rights and Gender Equality (WRGE) that was launched in 2007 emphasized the importance of gender sensitivity in energy as one of the five priority areas of Norwegian development cooperation.

The plan (referred to as the Action Plan) recognized that energy development and cooperation can enhance gender equality and the economic empowerment of both men and women.

The plan states that Norway will be at the forefront of efforts to ensure that:

  • both women and men participate at all levels in the management of natural resources in partner countries;
  • contribute to the creation of jobs and livelihoods for both women and men;
  • support sustainable, safe energy solutions that ease women's burden of work and improve their access to health services and education;
  • support the development and use of clean energy solutions, such as solar energy;
  • and promote the active participation of women in decision-making and implementation processes.

In the two energy sector initiatives - Clean energy for development and Oil for development – Norway will focus on the areas where Norway can make a difference and has special expertise to offer. In this light the two initiatives have put focus on certain thematic areas. Some of these thematic areas are cross-cutting, such as for instance gender issues in the energy sector. The theme – gender in energy – provides an oversight over how Norad assists in mainstreaming gender in development cooperation in the energy sector.

Frame agreement with Energia

Norad has given priority to gender mainstreaming in the energy sector and has entered a frame agreement with ENERGIA, a leading international network on gender and energy (www.energia.org), to assist. The frame agreement and its assignments are managed by the Gender Team in Norad’s Department for Economic Development, Energy, Gender and Governance. Kari Trædal Thorsen (kmt@norad.no) is the contact person within the Gender Team. Requests will be followed up in close cooperation with the country responsible in Oil for Development (OfD) and Clean Energy for Development. Attached you find the ToR for the tendering process for the frame agreement that Energia won.

Gender sensitive advice to Energy+

In cooperation with FORUM and ENERGIA, Norad is inviting selected Norwegian NGOs for a workshop meeting at Norad on 16 May 2012 to suggest entry points and possible ways forward to ensure a gender sensitive Energy+.

The meeting is intended to assist Norad in providing gender sensitive advice to Energy+. Output from the workshop meeting will be published.

Entry points for Gender Mainstreaming (GM) and Energia’s toolkit for GM in energy sector

The report presents an understanding of Norwegian support to the energy sector in relation to international best practices in gender mainstreaming.

The frame-agreement provides a team of international and national gender and energy experts, managed by ETC Netherlands/ENERGIA. The toolkit introduces the type of support the team can provide to Norad, Norwegian Embassies and partners in incorporating a gender responsive approach into the design and implementation of programs.

This technical assistance will specifically support projects developed under Oil for Development (OfD) and Clean Energy for Development (CEfD). Attached you find Energia’s deliveries as part of their first assignment - a progress report and a toolkit.

Background paper for World Development Report 2012

The background paper is a contribution to the preparation of the World Development Report 2012, which will focus on development and gender equality.

The paper examines if and how access to modern energy and energy-efficient technologies meet the challenges related to tackling poverty in a gender-equitable way. The paper is based on a desk study of the existing literature on gender and energy primarily from the last twenty years, as well as two detailed case studies (one in South Africa and one in Zanzibar, the United Republic of Tanzania) using ethnographic approaches. Attached you find as parts in the report; Executive summary, Main paper and the two case studies.

NVE’s energy and gender workshop 12.-16.09.2011

NVE has received support to invite female professionals from their partner institutions to a one-week workshop in Norway to strengthen participants’ knowledge on organisation of the energy sector in Norway and increase their understanding of how to integrate gender in their work.

The seminar provides the participants with examples of good practices and methods for gender mainstreaming in energy projects. 13 participants from Nepal, Liberia, Ethiopia, Bhutan, Timor Leste, Ghana and Tanzania attended. Attached is invitation to one of the countries as an example. For input from the NVE-workshop to the Energy for all conference, see the conference webpage.

Gender Mainstreaming on country level

Gender Mainstreaming (GM) of Norwegian energy support to Uganda

As part of Norad’s frame agreement ENERGIA in July 2011 assisted the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) in Uganda in identifying the needs and possibilities for gender mainstreaming within the planned rural electrification projects to be funded by Norway. This was a first step towards a possible integration of gender in these and eventually all Rural Electrification Agency (REA) projects.

Attached is the final report from ENERGIAs support. REA has already started implementing some of the recommendations in the report. In March 2012 ENERGIA is assisting The Norwegian Embassy with developing a baseline for the Norwegian Embassy portfolio in energy and petroleum cooperation. See the final report: Gender Mainstreaming in Rural Electricifation Projects in Uganda - Initial Scoping Mission.

Gender Mainstreaming (GM) of Norwegian energy support to Mozambique

With the assistance from Norad the Norwegian Embassy in Maputo has been assisted by ENERGIA to develop a targeted and practical gender mainstreaming programme to guide the Embassy in implementing Norway’s 2007 Action Plan for Women's Rights and Gender Equality in its energy sector development cooperation (Clean Energy and Oil for Development).

A Gender Action Programme has been agreed with the partners in a Second Roundtable Meeting in February 2012. The Programme involves all partners in the sector and in addition some civil society partners, and will be implemented in 2012.

Attached you find ENERGIA’s Assessment and Process Reports from the first phase as well as an Overview of gender entry points and challenges in energy sector development cooperation in Mozambique.

Gender Mainstreaming (GM) of Norwegian energy support to Timor-Leste

With the assistance from Norad ETC/ENERGIA has been engaged to identify the needs and possibilities for gender mainstreaming within Clean Energy for Development (CEfD) and Oil for Development (OfD) as a first step towards a possible gender mainstreaming (GM) in the two programs in Timor-Leste. A final draft report is presented and will be published once it has been approved.

In 2011 and 2012 ENERGIA has assisted the Norwegian Water Resources Directory (NVE) and the Liberian Ministry of Land, Mines and Energy (MLME) in the planning and implementation of gender capacity building activities in the MLME-NVE institutional cooperation program.

Gender activities in MLME-NVE institutional cooperation program in Liberia

These included two training need assessment workshops in November 2011 on gender mainstreaming in the energy sector and on women's empowerment through access to energy, energy use and benefit. In February, Energia facilitated a 3-day Training of Trainers workshop on gender, energy and women's empowerment.

Continued work in 2012 consists of the development of a gender action plan for MLME and gender sensitive indicators in the program’s result framework.

Plan for how Norad will work to Gender Mainstream (GM) in the two initiatives – 2011 to 2014

Norad’s Department for Economic Development, Energy, Gender and Governance is in the process of developing a plan with tools and framework for how Norad shall work to integrate gender in the energy sector. A final plan will be published within the end of 2011.