Global Gender Summit 2019: Experts enthuse parity in energy sector to combat climate change

The 2019 Global Gender Summit commenced on Monday, November 25 in Rwanda's capital, Kigali with a strong call to surge ahead on gender issues and move from commitment to action. Experts on energy issues pleaded on November 26 for gender parity in energy-related sectors with an objective to effectively fight climate change.

"Women are vulnerable in many African countries, particularly in the water and energy sector. And this vulnerability can have many consequences that can not be denied, on their health, for example," the climate change and green growth specialist at the African Development Bank, Charlotte Eyong opined.

"Women can contribute a lot in the fight against climate change. They can change mindsets to solve problems," Claire Nelson (of the Power Africa project in Rwanda led by USAID USA), deploring the fact that there are few women in the energy sector cited. "We have to see how we can attract women to this sector and support them to move up the ladder. Raise awareness, share experiences of women working in energy to show girls that opportunities exist," she suggested.

The other panellists, Claire Nelson of the Power Africa project in Rwanda led by USAID USA, Barbara Kazimbaya-Senkwe of the water and sanitation financing program (WASH-FIN) and Annemarije Kooijman of the NGO Energia, helped to feed the debate on the theme of this session entitled 'Climate change and the effects on women.'

Barbara Kazimbaya-Senkwe's idea is to seize the opportunities that exist in the water sector, innovation and financing, and to adopt new approaches to sanitation: "how can we capitalize on potential of waste? By doing social marketing to change mindsets and see waste as exploitable resources."

"We need to institutionalize gender in government strategies. It's not just a question of projects, but another way of doing things: ensuring gender parity in the project implementation team," Charlotte Eyong argued citing the African Bank as an example for its gender mainstreaming policy.