ENERGIA is the international network on gender and sustainable energy. We work from the contention that projects, programmes and policies that explicitly address gender and energy issues will result in better outcomes, in terms of the sustainability of energy services as well as the human development opportunities available to women and men.

ENERGIA's goal is to contribute to the empowerment of women -both rural and urban- through a specific focus on energy.

The start

ENERGIA was founded in 1996 and has grown to be an informal international network of like-minded organisations and individuals. This network has become the institutional base from which actions were taken to integrate gender issues into energy access policies and projects. An important objective of ENERGIA has been the regionalisation of activities, which has been achieved through supporting emerging national and regional networking activities in Africa and Asia. This has resulted in the successful establishment of national and regional ENERGIA networks in Africa and Asia. These are active and vibrant networks, managed and coordinated by regional network coordinators with support from regional secretariats.

Growing strong

During the initial years, ENERGIA News, a magazine on gender and energy issues, was the main product and 'backbone' of the network. Over the years, the network has earned a clear visibility and standing at the international level, through participation and active contributions to international policy events, advice on gender and energy issues to international institutions, and substantive research on the subject. ENERGIA was successful in putting gender and energy issues on the agendas of multilateral and bilateral development agencies in the energy sector, which has led to demands to the International Secretariat on how to integrate gender into international policies. ENERGIA has grown in influence through its international policy influencing and advocacy activities, and its resource centre on gender and energy.

The challenges remaining

Over time, ENERGIA has also been faced with demands for technical advice on how to integrate gender concerns into energy projects and into national policies. As the available generic gender tools did not appear to be appropriate for the energy sector, ENERGIA developed unique training modules and tools to promote gender mainstreaming in the energy sector. In recent years, it is increasingly being realized that greater attention to the needs and concerns of women in energy policies and programmes could help governments promote overall development goals of poverty alleviation, employment, health, education and women’s empowerment. One of the principal barriers for ENERGIA has been the lack of gender and energy expertise at all levels, capable of providing assistance on gender integration and mainstreaming into policies and projects.

ENERGIA’s unique approach is therefore to combine capacity building of network members in Africa and Asia with applying the acquired skills and knowledge in policies and projects.