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ENERGIA News Issue 2.3, August 1998

Resources: Publications

SIDA, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agen­cy, has recently published two handbooks, one on energy and one on transport. Orginally developed for SIDA staff and partners, these handbooks may be useful to anyone dealing with mainstreaming gender issues in sustainable energy projects.

The first handbook “Mainstreaming Equality between Women and Men: Handbook on Gender Perspectives in Energy Sector Develop­ment” states that gender-related differences and inequalities influence the outcomes of energy policy, energy planning and energy projects. In this respect important areas to consider are: tariffs and price policies, rural energy, decision power, construction of energy infrastructure, employment opportuni­ties. To increase equality between women and men in development cooperation within the energy sector one can: promote awareness, perform sector analyses, identify projects and procure consultancy services, monitor, address gender in annual reviews, evaluate, identify and draw on the Swedish resource base. The handbook concludes with various suggestions on how to increase the equality between women and men in SIDA supported Energy projects. Because of its limited length, the handbook may come in handy for organisations as a guideline on how to establish their own policy concerning gender and energy.

The second handbook is called “Handbook for Mainstreaming. A Gender Perspective in the Rural Transportation Sector”. This more elaborate handbook consists of different components, which are useful at different times. The first section is an overview of gender and rural transportation which introduces key insights and argu­ments from a gender equality perspective. The other four sections (sector analysis, project formulation/appraisal, annual review and evaluation) can be used at the corresponding stages of the programming cycle. Each deals with three issues: initial questions for SIDA staff, why ask these questions, and what steps can you take.

For more information, please contact:
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Depart­ment for Infrastructure and Economic Cooperation,, S-105 25, Stockholm, Sweden. Phone: (+46) 8 698 50 00 Fax: (+46) 8 20 88 64.