ENERGIANet No.4 July 2001

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

This is already the fourth issue of ENERGIANet!! We have had very positive reactions to our last issue and hope we will be able to keep up that standard. In order to do so, we are also depending on our subscribers to forward their announcements and suggestions for future issues to Chesha Wettasinha

We are happy to say that the number of subscribers is still growing and now reaches a total of 124.

ENERGIANet is archived at ENERGIA's website.

Table of Contents

• Energia Announcements
• Conference Announcement
• Call for Conference Papers
• Projects
• Courses
• Workshop Reports
• Publications
• Internet Resources
• Call for Contributions
• Vacancies
• Subscribe/Unsubscribe

Energia Announcements

Revised ENERGIA Website Expected Online soon
In the last issue of this electronic newsletter, we announced the launching of the revised ENERGIA website for June. Unfortunately, we have been unable to meet this deadline, due to many other pressing activities. However, the revised website will be launched soon!!
For more information, please contact Anja Panjwani-Koerhuis

ENERGIA News
Issue 4.2 of ENERGIA News was published in July 2001. This is a special issue on gender in the supply side of energy. The main articles in this issue include:

• Responses of rural households on the decline of woodfuel collecting areas: Case study of expanding sugarcane area in Masindi district of Uganda by Wim Klunne and Charles Mugisha;
• A Tale of Two Women and their Charcoal Technology: A case from Mali by Cheikh Sanogo and Margaret Skutsch;
• Involvement of Women in Joint Forest Management in Andhra Pradesh State: Grass root concerns by D. Suryakumari;
• Information and Women in the Supply Side of the Energy Sector by J. Shuma and G. Ngoo.

Forthcoming issues of ENERGIA News will be devoted to:

• Issue 4.3 (October 2001): This issue will be based on the UNDP publication “Generating Opportunities: Case studies on energy and women”.
• Issue 4.4 (December 2001): Gender, Energy and Health. Deadline for submissions: 17 September 2001.
• Issue 5.1 (March 2002): Women and Sustainable Energy in Asia. Deadline for submissions: 5 January 2002.

For more information, or to submit articles, please contact the ENERGIA Secretariat.

Conference Announcement

Planning and Capacity Building Meeting for the Earth Summit 2002 and Beyond, 20-21 August 2001 in Wits, South Africa
The meeting is organised by the Southern African Gender and Energy Network (SAGEN).
The meeting place will be at the Minerals and Energy Policy Centre (MEPC), the SAGEN's coordinator and the national focal point for the South African network on gender and energy. The main objectives of the meeting are to:

• review and evaluate the progress of the regional and national networks;
• identify obstacles and problems encountered;
• draft a framework for communication strategies;
• develop project ideas for the network and its members;
• streamline activities to be undertaken at national and regional levels; and
• identify funding strategies for implementing proposed plan of action and project activities.

For more information, please contact Tieho Theoha.
or visit MEPC's website.

Latin American Search Conference Workshops on Women in Energy and Environment, October-December 2001, various countries in Latin America
The workshops are organised by the University of Calgary in collaboration with the Latin American Energy Organisation (OLADE) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Search conference workshops in various countries in Latin America will be held to discuss the workplace issues facing women in the energy and the environment sector including the impact of energy reform on women and the specific issues women face in both rural and urban areas, to identify actions required to address the issues and to develop action plans and potential initiatives that can be undertaken collaboratively by the participants.
20 – 25 women and men familiar with and interested in the issues women face in energy and the environment in Latin America and the Caribbean will be selected. Representation will include energy, environment and civil society sectors representative of the country and region. Participants will be asked to assist in the research by providing an organisational profile identifying the gender composition of their organisation or one that they have access to.
The following dates have been tentatively scheduled: Uruguay (4-5 October 2001); Brazil or Chile (8-9 October 2001); Ecuador (13-14 December 2001); and Peru/Bolivia (November proposed).
In 2002, countries in the Central American and the Caribbean region will be scheduled
Applicants are requested to send a brief biography and their contact information no later than September 15th 2001.
For more information and to apply, please contact Salimah Janmohamed.

Call for Conference Papers

World Renewable Energy Congress VII and Exhibition, 29 June - 5 July 2002 at the Cologne Congress Centre, Cologne, Germany
Organised by the World Renewable Energy Network (WREN).
Among the topics to be discussed at the congress, is ‘Energy, Gender and Poverty Reduction’. The key issues that will be discussed at the Energy, Gender and Poverty Workshop are:

• Indoor Air Pollution and Health Issues
• Community-based Issues
• Access to and Provision of Energy Services
• Markets and Commercialisation
• Gender and Energy Policy and Planning

The WREN is welcoming papers to be presented at the workshop on above-mentioned issues. Papers will be presented in plenary, oral and poster sessions and all presented papers will be fully reviewed and published in the proceedings. Authors wishing to submit a contribution should read the instructions given on the website below.
For more information, or to send in abstracts, please contact Professor Ali Sayigh

Indoor Air 2002: the 9th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, 30 June-5 July 2002 in Monterey, California, USA
Indoor Air 2002 is the official conference of the International Academy of Indoor Air Sciences and organised in cooperation with the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate.
Indoor Air 2002 will present the latest knowledge from research on indoor air quality and climate and provide a forum for related discussions. The scope of the conference includes exposures that occur indoors, sources of the exposures, health and economic outcomes, exposure prevention and mitigation, and the associated research and measurement methods.
Topics for papers with a strong gender relation are for example: adverse pregnancy outcomes; cancer and reproductive effects; chronic respiratory or cardiac disease; productivity and economic effects; exposure assessment; and risk assessment/burden of disease. A detailed list of topics is available on the conference website given below.
Papers to be presented at the conference will be selected from submitted abstracts (maximum 300 words). The abstract must be submitted in electronic format using the form on the conference website by 1 October 2001.
For more information about the conference, please write to: secretariat@indoorair2002.org
or visit the website at
For sponsorship and exhibition information, please contact Hal Levin.

International Conference on Renewable Energy for Rural Development, 19-21 January 2002 in Dhaka, Bangladesh
The conference is organised by the Mechanical Engineering Department, BUET and the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST).
The objective of this international conference is to provide a forum for presenting the current research and dissemination activities in renewable energy for rural development. This will also promote the exchange of ideas and experiences among the researchers and professionals. This has been arranged under the higher education link between BUET and Loughborough University for the development of curricula and research on renewable energy technologies in Bangladesh.
Regarding gender issues in the field of sustainable energy, the conference organisers would prefer to see papers presented on the role of women in energy use and supply in the rural context, or case studies on women working in renewable energy industries and the empowerment that this brings (e.g. women in Bangladesh are working on the manufacture of electronic interfaces for photovoltaics).
For more information, please contact Prof. A.K.M. Sadrul Islam or Prof. D.G. Infield.

Projects

Directory of Women Professionals in Natural Resources in Africa
The United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU/INRA) started a project in 1998 to prepare a comprehensive list –including brief profiles, qualifications and experience- of African women professionals involved in the conservation, management and utilisation of natural resources. The project is designed to provide a reliable database that can be easily searched by international, multilateral and bilateral agencies, and non-governmental organisations looking for professional women in all areas of natural resources, including energy.
The overall objective of preparing this directory is to lay the foundation for a database on women professionals for easy reference and use in planning, project design and implementation, and policy formulation in natural resources management and conservation.
The Directory allows for online registration of new professionals. You are requested to provide all the required information.
For more information, please contact: unuinra@inra.unu.edu.gh
To view the database and for online registration
or go to the UNU/INRA homepage.

Women and Environment Activities by APWLD
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Land Development (APWLD) is a regional network from the Asia Pacific working to enable women to use law as an instrument of social change for equality, justice, and development. APWLD is involved in a wide range of activities, including Women and Environment.
Women and Environment has planned advocacy activities at national, regional and international levels. One of the ongoing projects focuses on women's participation in environmental decision-making in eight countries in the region. The final report will be published by December 2001.
For more information, please contact Amarsanaa Darisuren.
You can also visit the APWLD homepage

Courses

Course on Gender, Organisational Change, Agricultural and Leadership (GOAL), to be held from 13 January-2 February 2002, the Netherlands
The course will be organised by the International Agricultural Centre (IAC), Wageningen.
The course focuses on ‘mainstreaming gender in agricultural and rural development organisations’ and has three core themes:

• Vision, strategies and tools for gender equity planning and assessment in agricultural and rural development.
• Instruments for a supportive organisational structure and culture.
• Leadership and facilitation techniques and methods for managing change processes within organisations.

The course is designed for managers, senior staff, gender experts, trainers and consultants who are expected to incorporate a gender perspective in agricultural and rural development organisations and programmes. They are women and men involved in decision-making processes within governmental, non-governmental and international organisations, rural development projects, and donor agencies.
For more information, please write to: training@iac.agro.nl ,or res@iac.agro.nl

Workshop Reports

Final CSD 9 Report on Energy
Outcome documents of the Ninth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 9), held from 16-27 April 2001 in New York.
The decisions report ‘Energy for Sustainable Development’, the outcome document of CSD 9, has been published. ENERGIA is happy is to say that the active lobby activities of ENERGIA, its Consultative Group (Gail Karlsson in particular), ENDA-Senegal, ELCI and MEPC at the IGEESD and CSD 9 meetings in February and April resulted in adding reference to women in a number of sections of the decision document.
To view the Energy, and other decision reports
For more information about ENERGIA's activities at IGEESD and CSD 9, please contact Sheila Oparaocha.

Report on the Gender Equity – Rural Energy Systems Workshop
The Workshop was held at 23 May 2001 at Atmakur, Nellore District, India and organised by REMEDE.
The workshop was organised by REMEDE, the Root Institute for Manpower Enlightenment and Rural Development to serve as a starting point to move forward on the issues of gender equity and rural energy systems in Nellore District, India. A total of 59 participants from different NGOs, Women Self-Help Groups and Women Associations shared experiences and discussed possible solutions to the existing problems. A follow-up workshop is planned to take place on a state level (Andhra Pradesh).
For more information, please contact Mr. Gowrisankar.

Publications

Abbott V., C. Ashley, S. Gitonga, L. Muchiri and M. Sengendo: PEOPLE Approach: A guide to participatory household energy needs assessment. 2000, IT East Africa. ISBN: 9966-931-02-3 1.
This manual presents a useful approach for ensuring community involvement in designing, implementing and evaluating energy activities. It presents a strong case for PEOPLE (Participatory Exploration of Options for Local Energy) methodology. This user-friendly publication has a ‘how-to-do-it’ approach and a simple, effective layout. The approach provides a forum where both women and men are involved in discussing and planning for their energy, with gender issues being central to the publication.
For more information, please contact ITDG Kenya.

Hemmati, Minu and Kerstin Seliger: The Stakeholder Toolkit: A resource for women and NGOs. March 2001, UNED Forum.
The UNED Forum is a multi-stakeholder non-governmental organisation - a network and forum on sustainable development, which has promoted outcomes from the first Earth Summit in 1992 and is now working on preparations for Earth Summit 2002. The Forum has published a spiral-bound, 100 page booklet based on the Stakeholder Toolkit for Women website.
The publication provides information and resources for those aiming to engage effectively in implementing international agreements, impacting policy making, and dealing with relevant official bodies at international and regional levels; the UN Conference processes, their issues and follow-ups; international agreements on women's/gender issues; networking resources; etc.
The booklet is available free of charge for women's groups, NGOs, CBOs and other civil society groups in developing countries. It can be ordered at £7.50 (plus p&p) by those in developed countries.
To order the publication, please contact Gregoire leDivellec.
More information on the UNED Forum

Nishimuzi, Mieko: Energy, Gender and Poverty Reduction. Luncheon Address at the Joint Strategy Business Meetings of ESMAP/ASTAE/AFFREI/RPTES. 8 May 2001.
“Indoor air pollution kills. It kills two million women and young children every year.” In her speech given at the joint strategy business meetings of donor-funded energy programs at the World Bank, Ms. Mieko Nishimizu, the World Bank's Regional Vice President for South Asia, highlights the dangers of indoor air pollution and other issues in the household environment.
View the speech

Roehr, Ulrike: Gender and Energy in the North.
Background paper for the Expert Workshop “Gender Perspectives for Earth Summit 2002: Energy, Transport, Information for Decision-Making” from 10-12 January 2001 in Berlin.
As yet, in northern countries, there has hardly been any research on energy and the sustainable production and consumption of energy from a gender perspective. One reason for this is that gender specific effects are significantly more indirect and subtle in the North than in the South. Another reason is a general lack of gender specific data. Furthermore, gender aspects often seem to be neglected on purpose – even if they are evident.
Because of the described lack of gender related research and disaggregated data, the following exposition is to be seen as conclusions drawn from non-existing research, and from results of research neglecting gender aspects, rather than as results based on sound data and research.
The paper can be viewed at: www.earthsummit2002.org/workshop/bpenergy%20n.htm
For more information, please contact Ulrike Roehr.

Rukato, Hesphina: Gender and Energy in the South: A Perspective from Southern Africa.
Background paper for the Expert Workshop “Gender Perspectives for Earth Summit 2002: Energy, Transport, Information for Decision-Making” from 10-12 January 2001 in Berlin.
The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of existing research studies and their approaches concerning the linkages between gender and energy, including, where possible, practical experiences with energy projects and their monitoring. This paper covers the situation and the perspective from developing countries.
To view the paper
For more information, please contact Hesphina Rukato.

Wamukonya, Njeri: Proceedings of the African High-level Regional Meeting on Energy and Sustainable Development for the Ninth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development. 2001, UNEP Collaborating Centre on Energy and Development. ISBN: 87-550-2862-4.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) jointly with the Government of Kenya and the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) organised the “African High-Level Regional Meeting on Energy and Sustainable Development” from 10-13 January 2001 at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The purpose was to support the preparations for CSD 9 and enable African countries to discuss key issues related to energy for sustainable development in their regional context. The report presents the technical statements and papers prepared for the technical workshop. The report provides several regional overview papers that integrate the different issues and put them in a regional perspective.
Professor Salome Misana's contribution on ‘Gender concerns in accessing energy for sustainable development’ is included in the proceedings.
To download the publication
For more information, please contact Njeri Wamukonya.

The World Bank: World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking poverty. April 2001, the World Bank. ISBN: 0-19-521129-4.
The strategy in this report recognises that poverty is more than inadequate income or human development –it is also vulnerability and a lack of voice, power, and representation. With this multidimensional view of poverty comes greater complexity in poverty reduction strategies because more factors –such as social and cultural forces- need to be taken into account.
The way to deal with this complexity is through empowerment and participation –local, national, and international. The poor are the main actors in the fight against poverty. And they must be brought centre stage in designing, implementing, and monitoring antipoverty strategies.
The publication can be bought online at: publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=432763
or send an email to: books@worldbank.org

Internet Resources

The Household Energy Network (HEDON) has substantially updated its website, making it faster and more transparent. At the same time a number of new items have been added to the site.
Have a look at: www.ecoharmony.com/hedon

The new Development Goals website presents the latest data on country and regional progress towards the International Development Goals on poverty, education, gender equality, child, infant and maternal mortality, reproductive health, and the environment. Country tables present time series data for four of the last ten years.
Visit the website

Reader on Electronic Journal Publishing is available at the site of the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP). The reader provides a selection of key articles on issues (both technical and policy) relating to the publishing of journals in electronic formats. The objectives are to:

• provide developing country colleagues with a synthesis of up to date information and state of the art know-how in the field of electronic journal publishing; and
• provide case study material on electronic publishing in developing countries from which others might learn.

The reader might be an interesting tool for gender and energy networks.
To view the reader
For more information, please contact: inasp@gn.apc.org

Call for Contributions

The Shell Foundation – Household Energy and Health Dialogue
The Sustainable Energy Programme (SEP) is the major grant-making programme of the Shell Foundation. The SEP is adopting a proactive approach, of which the dialogues are one element, to defining the problems it will tackle in order to develop solutions and communicate results.
The Household Energy and Health dialogue, an online (email) forum of the SEP has started on 16 July 2001 and will continue through August. The short-term email discussion group aims to get input on design, operational and substantive issues from as wide a range of stakeholders as possible.
For more information, or to join the dialogue, please go to: http://www.shellfoundation.org/dialogues/index.html
For more information about the Shell Foundation and the SEP

Boiling Point
Boiling Point is the journal of the Intermediate Technology Development Group's Energy Programme, and the Household Energy Programme (HEP) of GTZ, Germany. You are invited to send articles for the next issue of Boiling Point, the theme of which will be:

• BP47: Household energy and enterprise. For many people, the income that they generate comes from work done at the household level. The energy involved in these enterprises can be a substantial part of their household energy needs - such as for commercial baking, food processing, crop drying, producing street foods etc. Others may make a living providing energy for household use. This issue will look at ways in which energy and enterprise are related within the household context.
• BP48: Marketing household energy for poverty reduction. Suggested articles include: how donors and/or major institutions see household energy; the future of household energy projects; stakeholders opinions; funding strategies; routes for sustainability of household energy projects; strengthening NGOs and CBOs working directly on household energy; household energy in policy agendas.

Ideally, all material should be send by the end of August 2001. Articles should be about 1500 words. Illustrations (photos, JPGs, line drawings, bar charts etc.) are highly appreciated.
For more information and to submit articles, please contact Elizabeth Bates.

Vacancies

UN is seeking a Renewable Energy Specialist
The UN is seeking the services of a Renewable Energy Specialist in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The position is for one year initially, with the possibility of extension for another 2 years, starting from August/September 2001.
The renewable energy specialist shall initiate, co-ordinate and undertake activities as outlined below for solar (electric and thermal), wind (electric and shaft power) and small hydro (electric and shaft power) energy resources and technologies (hereafter referred to as renewable energy):

• Carry out economic and sector work, including identifying policy/institutional issues to provide the framework for the AfDB assistance in the area of renewable energy;
• Prepare training material, training programs and provide training for AfDB staff, notably the project officers in the country departments to create awareness and sensitise them on potential investments in renewable energy activities;
• Prepare training material, training programmes and provide training for in-country personnel (National Banks, Ministry of Energy, Electric Utilities, Private Sector, NGOs) on the identification, preparation and evaluation of renewable energy projects in those countries targeted by AfDB for investment;
• Co-ordinate the identification and preparation of feasibility studies (business plans) for renewable energy projects to be included in the AfDB lending portfolio;
• Assist in the project appraisal process of renewable energy investments, to be undertaken by AfDB. Project appraisal will be carried out on the basis of the business plans developed and needs to address the financial, economic, institutional and socio-technical issues;
• Implement and supervise renewable energy investments to be undertaken by ADB; and
• Co-ordinate with ongoing programs in the Africa region to avoid overlap and identify complementary activities, especially those where making investment capital available will accelerate the development of renewable energy activities. Furthermore, co-ordinate with donor agencies and mobilising resources (grants and/or buy-downs) to be packaged with AfDB renewable energy loans.

For more information and to submit CVs, please contact Yehia Abu-Alam.

ESCAP is looking for a Chief for its Environment Section
The Environment and Natural Resources Development Division of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok is looking for a Chief for the Environment Section.
The closing date for applications is 4 August 2001.
For more information, please visit: www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/eesc2083.htm

PROLEÑA is seeking two Stove Consultants
PROLEÑA is currently implementing a woodstove commercialisation project in Nicaragua, with funds from ESMAP. PROLEÑA is looking for two international stove consultants to help to:

• identify suitable models of smokeless woodstoves for the poor. An expert on the subject, specifically regarding stove design, materials and heat transfer.
• develop a strategic marketing and media campaign and a micro-credit scheme for the stoves.

The first vacancy should be filled around August and the second by the end of the year.
For more information, or to put in your application, please contact Rogerio Miranda.

FAO has several job openings
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN has a number of interesting job openings, including a National Forest Programme Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean, and a Rural Sociologist (Headquarters in Rome).
For more information on these and other vacancies, please visit: www.fao.org/VA/vac.htm

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