Advisory Group

ENERGIA is pleased to announce the establishment of its Advisory Group. The process of consultations and the selection of Advisory Group members took place between January and March 2006 with the active participation of all the National Focal Points (NFPs). The Advisory Group comprises of: Lydia Muchiri (Practical Action Kenya) representing the African NFPs; Wendy Annecke (Gender and Energy Training, South Africa) as a Technical Expert from the African region; Feri Lumampao (Approtech Asia) representing the Asian NFPs; Kamal Rijal (UNDP Sustainable Energy Programme, Bangkok) as a Technical Expert from Asia; Venkata Ramana (World Bank) as a co-opted member; Semida Silveira (Swedish Energy Agency) representing ENERGIA's core donors and Elizabeth Cecelski as a core founding member of the network. May Sengendo (RNC-Africa), Soma Dutta (RNC-Asia) and Sheila Oparaocha (ENERGIA Coordinator) will participate as ex-officio members.

The inaugural meeting of the ENERGIA Advisory Group took place on 14th to 17th March in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, not all the members were able to participate at this meeting: Ganesh Shrestha (CRT Nepal) NFP in Nepal stood in for Feri Lumampao and Joy Clancy replaced Elizabeth Cecelski. Venkata Ramana was also unable to attend the meeting.

Among the important issues discussed at this first meeting were the future and sustainability of the network, improvements to the network's procedures and communications within the network. The members also took time to discuss in detail their role as an Advisory Group. Wendy Annecke was chosen as Chair. The Advisory Group members will be in office for a period of two years.