The three-day form Women Empowerment through Energy Access has government and industry leaders buzzing about women and the energy sector hoping to help the Mano River Union (MRU) see a major policy shift.
The bloc is looking to channel a similar gender-based renewable energy policy like the one Ghana introduced in October helping other countries adopt a national policy with equal gender representation by 2014. A sub-regional working group on women and sustainable energy will present its findings at the forthcoming Vienna Energy Forum on May 29 in addition to other case studies from the MRU and Ecowas countries.
One project that will be highlighted and studied is Sierra Leone’s Barefoot Women Solar Engineers, the all female group that installs solar lighting for off-grid areas.
"Our governments in the MRU are awaiting the outcome of this conference to ensure that desired and appropriate strategies are adopted to fulfill women’s longstanding aspirations for freedom from the burden of firewood, and from the hazards of too much smoke in their kitchens," Sierra Leone’s president Ernest Bai Koroma said at the opening of the conference.
Make sure you visit and click ‘Like’ on our Facebook page to receive even more news and updates from Alternative Energy Africa.