ENERGIANet No.2 February 2001

The E-Newsletter of ENERGIA International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy

Table of Contents

• ENERGIA announcements
• Conference information
• Projects
• Training programmes
• Reports on conferences
• Publications
• Research studies
• Internet resources
• Vacancies/fellowships
• Subscribe/unsubscribe

ENERGIA announcements

ENERGIA News
Volume 3.4 of ENERGIA News came out in December, 2000, and was a special issue on the World Renewable Energy Congress - Energy and Gender Workshop. It includes:

• The Role of Women in Rural Energy Supply in Zimbabwe: the Experience of ITDG-Southern Africa by Tinashe Nhete;
• An Integrated Approach to the Implementation of Renewable Energy Technology in Remote Areas: Community-Based Development in Nepal by C. McMenemy, M. Williamson and F. Vitez; and
• Gender and Household Energy Technology in East Africa by Lydia Muchiri and Stephen Gitonga.

• Volume 4.1 (March 2001): Gender in Energy - for CSD 9. Deadline for submissions has passed.
• Volume 4.2 (June 2001): Gender in the Supply-side of Energy. Deadline for submissions: 19th March 2001.
• Volume 4.3 (September 2001): Gender, Energy and Health. Deadline for submissions: 17th June 2001.

Annotated Bibliography on Gender and Energy
Joy Clancy, Margaret Skutsch and Mariëlle Feenstra of the Technology Development Group (TDG) at the University of Twente have started working on the development of an annotated bibliography on gender and sustainable energy. After completion, the bibliography will be made available both in hard copy and online at the ENERGIA website.
For more information, please contact the ENERGIA Secretariat.

Conference information

Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Energy and Sustainable Development (IGEESD) Meeting
26 February – 2 March, 2001, at UN Headquarters in New York.
The outcome of this meeting will be in the form of a report to CSD9 and will contain a summary of proceedings from the meeting and a negotiated text for action by CSD.  Since there is no intersessional on energy (one of the main agenda items for CSD9) prior to CSD9 this year, the negotiated outcome document of the IGEESD is being treated by most people as essentially equivalent to an intersessional document.  The forum is also considered the best opportunity for ideas to be taken up by governments setting the scene and outlining priorities, since this is the only all governments’ negotiated text on energy for CSD9 and the discussions during the session are relatively open. Therefore, it is strategically important that groups lobbying for certain issues to be included in CSD9, be represented at this forum.
In this respect, ENERGIA, representing also the CSD9 NGO Women's, will attend and participate in the IGEESD, in order to lobby for the integration of a gender perspective in the outcome document of the IGEESD.
For more information contact Sheila Oparaocha, or Gail Karlsson.

Ninth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-9), 16-27 April, 2001.
Organised by the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) Secretariat and its partner UN bodies.
The focus during this session will be on atmosphere, energy, information for decision-making, environment, and transport.
ENERGIA and ENDA/Senegal are jointly preparing a one-day side event for CSD-9 with a focus on Gender in Energy. A position paper on behalf of ENERGIA and the NGO Women's Caucus, as input to the Secretary-General's report, the EU position paper, the NGO Dialogue Sessions, etc. is now posted on the ENERGIA website (www.energia.org) and the NGO Women's Caucus site (www.earthsummit2002.org/wcaucus/csd9/CSD-9.htm).
For more information about the side event that ENERGIA/ENDA are organising, please contact:
Fatma Denton, or Sheila Oparaocha.
For further information about the Ninth Session of the CSD, visit: www.earthsummit2002.org/caucus/csd9/CSD-9.htm
ENERGIA would also appreciate hearing from you if your organisation is planning to participate.

Projects

Biofuel, Air Pollution and Health Project at IGIDR
The Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, India, organised a thematic seminar on the 6th January 2001 on “Bio-fuels, pollution and health linkages” to discuss the results of projects funded by UNDP, the EMCaB project of the World Bank and co-ordinated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Government representatives, the public and private sector, and experts from various disciplines participated in the event.
This project is one of the largest ever, involving 15,000 households in 148 villages of 22 districts from 4 states in India. Along with a socio-economic survey, it involved recording the Peak Expiratory Flow of more than 30,000 individuals to measure their capacity, as well as collecting health profiles of more than 80,000 individuals. Approximately 800 households were monitored for indoor air quality using personalised monitors.
For more information about this project and the results of the seminar, please contact Dr. Jyoti Parikh.
To learn more about IGIDR, visit: www.igidr.ac.in
A review of the workshop will also appear in ENERGIA News 4.1.

Sustainable Energy Books for Africa
The Shell Foundation, together with ITDG Publishing, have recently completed the pilot phase of this project and are now seeking help in identifying energy institutions (including NGOs) across Africa to take part in the main phase of the project. The purpose of the project is to provide better access by African institutions to literature on understanding and dealing with energy and poverty.
A catalogue on small-scale energy systems is now being prepared, providing reviews of what each book contains. A copy of the catalogue will be sent to each participating organisation, which are then invited to select the books that are most relevant to their needs, up to a value of £500. About 120 organisations across Africa are expected to participate.
For information about how to join this project, contact Miriam Forde.

GENES (Mesoamerican Gender in Sustainable Energy) Network
The GENES Network, supported by ESMAP, will start capacity building in gender and sustainable energy (including improved wood stoves) at an institutional level, as well as at the project level. These activities were planned and elaborated in an action plan in August 2000 by the seven in-country coordinators of the Central American Region (including Mexico) and partners such as Winrock International.
For more information about the GENES Network, please contact Katia Winkler.

Fundacion Solar
Fundacion Solar in Guatemala will measure the impact of 800 solar home systems installed in the rural areas of Guatemala. Indigenous women have been trained in the management of solar home systems, both technically and in a community-organisation sense. In 2001, Fundacion Solar is planning to undertake case studies on the social impacts and the quality of life of women and men where the systems and the stoves have been installed.
For more information please contact Katia Winkler.

Training programmes

International Training Programme on Cookstoves, 1-12 March, 2001
Organised by the Energy and Research Centre at Panjab University in Chandigarh.
The training programme includes; how to formulate a dissemination strategy for improved cookstoves, the design methodology and testing of cookstoves, environmental and health aspects, and how to develop co-operation in ICS Technology.
For more information, contact S.K. Sharma, Director of the Energy Research Centre.

Financing of Projects in Energy, Environment and Climate Change, 1 May - 2 June 2001, at the University of Twente (UT), Enschede, the Netherlands.
The Technology and Development Group (TDG) of the UT is organising this workshop in co-operation with the International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC).
The aim of the workshop is to develop participants’ skills in writing fundable proposals on energy, environment and climate change, and to train them to contribute to international negotiations.
The workshop has a clear gender focus, with the participant training including Gender/Social Impact Analysis.
The deadline for applications is 15 March, 2001.
For more information about this workshop please contact the TDG Course Administration, or visit the TDG website at: www.utwente.nl/tdg

Reports on conferences

Gender Issues in Wood Energy. A workshop organised by Gender and Development Studies for FAO, Regional Wood Energy Development Programme (RWEDP) and held at Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, 21-23 November, 2000.
The RWEDP has sponsored national gender and wood energy workshops in four countries (Laos, China, Cambodia, and Vietnam) as well as training workshops. The Gender and Wood Energy in Asia workshop was based on this and other work and looked at various alternatives to solve the cooking/wood energy problem, such as kerosene/gas subsidies, improved stoves, and other renewable energy/energy-saving solutions.
For a report of the workshop, please contact RWEDP.

International Conference “Gender Perspectives for Earth Summit 2002 - Energy; Transport; Information for Decision-Making. Berlin, 10-12 January, 2001. Co-Chair's Summary of the Discussions.
This Co-Chair's summary, by Minu Hemmati (UNED Forum) and Barbara Schaefer (German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety), aims to give an overview of the discussions and recommendations from the Conference. A full report will be available in February.
To view the summary, please go to: www.earthsummit2002.org/workshop
For more information contact Minu Hemmati.

Publications

CSD NGO Energy & Climate Change Caucus and the CSD NGO Transport Caucus. Dialogue Paper for the CSD9 Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue Segment on Sustainable Energy and Transport.
This dialogue paper for the Commission on Sustainable Development, Ninth Session (CSD-9), to be held from 16-27 April 2001 discusses 4 key issues. The two energy topics dealt with are “Achieving Equitable Access to Sustainable Energy” and “Sustainable Choices for Producing and Consuming Energy”, these are prepared by the CSD NGO Energy and Climate Change Caucus. Topic 1, point 11 acknowledges the importance of integrating gender equity into all energy policies and programmes.
The paper's full text can be viewed at: www.igc.org/csdngo/csd9_dialogue_paper.htm
For more information about the CSD NGO Energy and Climate Change Caucus, visit: www.igc.org/csdngo/energy/ene_index.htm#Caucus%20Coordinators

STATEMENT: African Regional Perspectives on Energy and Sustainable Development for the Ninth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in April 2001.
A statement has been made by the Ministers responsible for energy and their representatives from United Nations Member States of Africa during the African High-level Regional Meeting on Energy for Sustainable Development, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 10-13 January, 2001. The statement recognises the need for gender sensitive frameworks and aims to strengthen the capacity of women groups, and others, to facilitate participatory approaches to energy for sustainable development.
For the statement's full text, please contact one of the NGO Energy and Climate Change Caucus Co-Coordinators: Rajat Chaudhuri, or Deling Wang.
For more information about the CSD NGO Energy and Climate Change Caucus, visit: www.igc.org/csdngo/energy/ene_index.htm#Caucus%20Coordinators

DECLARATION: As a result from the “Women in Energy Ministerial Meeting”, held from 11-12 December, 2000 in Durban, South Africa.
This statement was drawn up by the African Ministers, in partnership with the United States Department of Energy, representatives of International Organisations, NGOs and private sector attending the Women in Energy Ministerial Meeting. This meeting is part of the 2nd Africa/US Ministerial Conference to discuss and explore possible policy, financial and socio-economic solutions for problems experienced by African Women with regard to the energy sector.
For the full text of the Declaration go to: www.villagepower2000.org

Julie A. Smith. Solar-Based Rural Electrification and Microenterprise Development in Latin America: A Gender Analysis. November 2000 - NREL/SR-550-28995.
This NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) study describes the use of decentralised renewable energy systems as one approach for meeting the energy needs of rural areas in Latin America. It outlines the advantages of a decentralised energy paradigm in achieving international development goals, especially as they relate to women.
For more information, please contact: rredc@nrel.gov

R. Shailaja. Women, Energy and Sustainable Development.
Women, especially rural women, are the most disadvantaged segment of the Indian population, despite their major contribution to the labour that keeps the economy going. For a variety of tasks, including agricultural operations and domestic work, women expend a disproportionate share of their human energy as well as take the lion's share of the work involved in collecting fuel. This paper considers the interrelation between women, energy and development.
The paper has been published in: Energy for Sustainable Development, Volume IV No.1, June 2000, the Journal of the International Energy Initiative.

Wendy Jill Annecke. Women and Energy in South Africa.
In this article a brief overview of the historical absence of women from the formal energy sector, and their invisibility as users and clients in South Africa is provided. Although this has changed over the last decade, Annecke argues there is still much to be done to change the fundamentally unequal relationships between people with access to power and resources in South Africa and those without.
This article was published in: Energy for Sustainable Development, Volume IV, No.4, December 2000, or contact Wendy Annecke.

PROWID (Promoting Women in Development). Reports-in-Brief from the Grants Programme.
PROWID, a project conducted by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), in collaboration with USAID, has recently produced a series of Reports-in-Brief for each of the projects under PROWID. Consistent findings and recommendations, some of which have a clear gender focus, derived from the PROWID projects are reported in various papers on community development, natural resource management, integrated and appropriate technology, etc.
The Reports-in-Brief are available on line at ICRW at www.icrw.org, or at CEDPA at www.cedpa.org.

UNDP, UNDESA, WEC. World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability
This joint publication by the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the World Energy Council, considers clean, renewable energy sources such as wind to be one of the major foundations for a prosperous, equitable, and environmentally sustainable world.
The full text of the report is available on the Web at: www.undp.org/seed/eap/activities/wea

Research studies

EU Evaluation: Gender and Energy Participation of Women Researchers in FP5 Energy Calls
The European Commission is conducting research into women's participation within all aspects of Framework V R&D programmes. One of the vital feedback mechanisms for this project uses a set of questionnaires regarding Framework 5, Energy.
The aim of the first questionnaire to determine whether women and men have different gender-based research priorities for energy; to ascertain if there is gender equity in access to research resources; and to make recommendations for future Calls for Proposals. From the results of this questionnaire, an anonymous Stakeholder Analysis approach will be developed, with the confidentiality of each respondent assured. The aim of the second questionnaire is to determine why there are not more women researchers participating in FP5 Calls.
For more information about the research, and to access the questionnaires, please go to the IT Power website at: www.itpower.co.uk/gender.

Internet resources

NREL Report: Farhar, B and T.C. Coburn. A Market Assessment of Residential Grid-Tied PV Systems in Colorado. NREL/TP-550-25283. This report analyses homeowners’ in the US State of Colorado's willingness to pay for residential PV systems linked to the grid. Gender is one of the factors analysed.
www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=766189

A report on the proceedings of the workshop ‘Moving toward Equity and Sustainability in Rural Energy; Putting Gender Concepts into Action’, that was held as part of the 8th Village Power Conference in Washington, DC, in December, 2000 can be viewed at the following address: www.rsvp.nrel.gov/vpconference/vp2000/vp2000_workshops.html#Thursday

The Village Power 2000 Website provides several reports and abstracts of papers presented at the “Women in Energy Ministerial Meeting”, held on 11-12 December, 2000 in Durban, South Africa. These include:

• Durban Declaration: As a result from the “Women in Energy Ministerial Meeting”, held from 11-12 December, 2000 in Durban, South Africa;
• An abstract of the report presented by Wendy Annecke on Energy Laws and their impact on Women;
• A report of the session on the Role of Energy in Poverty Alleviation; and
• An abstract of the paper presented by Yvette Stevens (Special Co-ordinator for Africa and the Least Developed Countries for the UN) on Linkages Between Energy and Development Strategies to Empower Women.

The Women's Energy Network of PETROTRIN, the integrated State Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago, has been urged to play a lead role in keeping gender issues to the fore as the company's development activities proceed. More information is available at: www.petrotrin.com/petrovision/archive/novem99/energyindustry.htm

Euronet provides contact details for women's organisations in several countries. Have a look at the list at: www.euronet.nl/~fullmoon/womlist/womlist.html

Vacancies/fellowships

Ford Foundation International Graduate Fellowships Programme
The Ford Foundation's $330 million International Fellowships Programme aims to broaden the talent pool of future leaders by recruiting exceptional individuals who would otherwise lack opportunities for advanced study. The IFP will award 350 new graduate fellowships annually, assisting a total of 3,500 Fellows over the next decade.
Full details about the International Fellowships Programme can be found at: www.fordfound.org

Three job opportunities at Rural Area Power Solutions (RAPS)
RAPS is a multidisciplinary energy company providing management, consultancy, project development and investment facilitation services in the field of rural (often renewable or off-grid) energy supply. The rural energy project development, implementation and consultancy activities are currently expanding, and thus one officer at a senior level, and one at a project officer/researcher level are needed. In addition, the roll out of an exciting new product for the rural off-grid market is planned, an integrated Energy Services Management System. To help in this process, someone with IT and electrical engineering skills is needed. Although RAPS operations are focused in South Africa, we also work actively in other Southern and East African countries.
For further information, please visit: www.raps.co.za

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