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ENERGIA News Issue 2.3, August 1998

Meeting ENERGIA Members

Wim Hulscher,
Chief Technical Advisor, FAO Regional Wood Energy Development Programme (RWEDP), Bangkok.

Interviewed by Christina Aristanti, Asian Regional Cookstove Program (ARECOP), Yogyakarta.

Wim, could you tell us first a little about your background?

My full name is Willem Hulscher; I was born in 1938 in Malang and grew up in Indonesia; did my Masters in Physics at Leiden University, and a PhD in Engineering at Twente University, The Netherlands. I have worked most of my life as an academic and administrator.

When did you get involved in energy?

In the early 1970s I worked in development co-operation in Africa. There I observed that women did almost all the work, in agriculture, livestock, households, retailing, everything. Ten years later I became involved in energy again, as the Director of International Courses on Rural Energy Development at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. I joined RWEDP in 1994, as the chief, at the start of a new phase in the regional FAO project.

When, how and why did you get interested in gender issues?

I got interested in gender issues probably more than 30 years ago in a philosophical way. As students, we read Simone de Beauvoir and had exiting discussions. Gender aspects bring you to the heart of cultural, social and anthropological questions. I find these fascinating. Why do people do what they do? Why do they believe what they believe? How come they believe at all? Gender is at the heart of religious beliefs, to which I am an outsider. Perch (small fish) have distinct gender roles, and so have humans. People tend to think that these roles are governed by laws of nature. Coming from science, I knew that this is false. Are we no more than instinct-driven creatures? I like a bit of freedom! Magic and superstitions hide the real mysteries of life. It seems people are always afraid. Do they need to be?
Professionally I became involved in gender through my work 10-15 years ago, when developing projects. I learned from colleagues, both female and male, that gender sensitivity is needed in order to make a project successful. OK, let's do it. I learned more in my present job. One has to take into account gender in wood energy development. So, why not? Trying to do that brings me closer to socio-cultural questions. Gender roles are created in the midst of cultures. Asia has such a variety! Can we help women to help themselves, maybe by improving their own kitchen stoves, and still maintain respect for entire socio-cultural systems? I think we can. But we have to do that very professionally.
I still remember a male colleague in The Netherlands in the 1960s. When he admitted that his wife had a paid job, he immediately added: “but it is not for the money!”. He was a role-model in those days. I guess I have been influenced a long time ago by a book by Nancy Friday. I forget what the book was about, but I remember myself thinking: she is right! We have to do something! I think she was considered a women's-lib person.

What about your objectives in mainstreaming gender in energy?

Gender aspects should be built into all energy policies and projects, just as environmental concerns should be. Firstly, we need the relevant information about the many roles of women in local energy supply and use, and we need to document their problems, their constraints, and their hardships. We need to spread the message and tell people: these are rules you have invented yourselves, they are not nature's rules! You can change your rules, it's up to you! That may help all people, both men and women, to add a little freedom to their lives. Once that is achieved, energy is a matter of technicalities which we can handle jointly.

Please tell us about your efforts to make this happen.

My job is made simple, because I have good advisers. I identify the issues and bring the people together. And when it comes to the writing, I can still modify what they have said. I put on a few signatures, and that's it.

Who gives you support, and in what different ways?

I do not support women who want to talk to women on how important women are. Though sometimes, if they really need to..… I like to challenge women activists to turn their drive towards a concrete subject, to solve a day-to-day problem, and to apply whatever professional skills they have to that. Gender action should be user-friendly. I try to support people who have an open mind for development challenges including gender. I wish I could support children, because many of them are suffering, even in the energy scene. I do hope that supporting women helps the children. I think it does.

What do you think you have achieved, either fully or partially, in mainstreaming gender in energy?

So far, we have achieved very little. We have got the issues on the agendas here and there, and a few individuals have got some new ideas or skills, or just encouragement. But we have to serve 3 billion people in Asia! Our contribution is just very, very small so far, there is a long way to go.

Wim, thank you for your thoughts on gender in energy. We wish you success in your programme to promote it!