Introduction

Globally, more women than men live in poverty. Women make up nearly 70 percent of the world's poor and 65 percent of the world's illiterate. Women are also less likely than men to receive basic education and to occupy leadership seats. It is after understanding that men and women experience poverty differently and face different barriers in accessing services, resources and opportunities that solutions can be drawn up.

Gender equality, women’s empowerment and the realization of the human rights, dignity and capabilities of women is increasingly being recognized, not only as a moral imperative, but as a sustainable development imperative. That is, any notion of sustainable development must acknowledge gender equality as articulated in a number of international agreements including the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One focus of the gender and development narrative is to readdress the disproportionate impact borne by women in a global downturn by empowering women. Evidence demonstrates that dominant gender roles tend to change gradually with education, access to information, economic empowerment and exposure to different lifestyles among others. Access to energy, particularly in developing countries, have been widely discussed as an effective way to facilitate women’s empowerment in myriad ways. Since women and girls play a significant role in energy supply as part of their housework, access to electricity would save women’s time allowing for them to invest in education, and participate in economic, political, and social life.

Gender equality has been shown to stimulate sustainable development outcomes. For example, the presence of women in leadership positions appears to increase the allocation of public resources towards investments in education, health and other human development priorities. However, while gender equality can have a catalytic effect on achieving sustainable development, development interventions can lead to poor gender outcomes.

Within the context of energy and development programmes, rural electrification efforts can promote significant gender goals through the improvement of women’s social, economic and political status. At the same time, energy-related development interventions can pose a danger of entrenching gender stereotypes and inequalities. Evidence from the analyses of electrification projects demonstrate that men and women benefit differently from electricity access according to their social roles and responsibilities making the access, use, and impact of energy services different for both sexes.

Direct impact of energy on women

Access to clean energy influences various aspects, if not all, of everyday life. Its importance is even more salient with the digital revolution. In the developing world, however, energy poverty remains widespread. That is, large numbers of people still depend on polluting fuels, spending excessive time to meet fundamental energy needs for cooking, heating and lighting. Women and girls are the primary producers of the household’s basic energy needs making them the most affected by the lack of electricity. Evidence of the observable consequences of the lack of access to energy, particularly for women, can be discussed in relation to health, access to information, and economic empowerment.

Energy poverty has serious consequences on health and it is women and children that suffer the most where energy poverty is prevalent. Generally, women are responsible for tasks related to cooking and other housework making them responsible for ensuring the daily energy supply for the household. Where electricity is not available, polluting energy forms such as firewood and kerosene are used. The collection of firewood and the firewood load carried by women and children can have negative consequences on women’s posture and can cause back and muscle pain. Furthermore, the improper use of such fuels, along with poor indoor ventilation, increases their risk of developing noncommunicable diseases as they spend much more time indoors than men.
Studies have shown that access to electricity which in turn increases women’s access to multiple information channels can address gender-based violence. The more information that girls and women have access to, the greater understanding they have of their rights, and the less accepting they are of stereotyped roles and violence. Electricity also has a positive impact on girl’s education and a strong connection with the perception of women on safety. Besides being able to study or read after sunset, the time spent collecting firewood for example could be employed in more productive and empowering activities, such as going to school. Public lightning decreases crime rate and physical and sexual violence, therefore, women feel safe to go about their activities and movements even before dawn or after sunset.
Access to electricity is essential for women’s economic development and empowerment. Improved efficiency in carrying out domestic tasks enhances personal empowerment efforts and educational and business opportunities. Time saved from wood collection could be effectively used for new business opportunities. Evidence shows that the income of self‐employed, rural women who have access to energy are more than twice that of their counterparts without access to energy. Further evidence demonstrates that women are more likely to become wage earning workers outside the home when they have access to electricity.

Clean energy access and equality

Energy interventions can have significant gender benefits which can be realized through careful design and targeting of interventions based on a context-specific understanding of energy scarcity and household decision-making. This can be explained in two examples; first, in male-headed households, men who control cash accounts may decide which appliances to buy, without considering the preferences or well-being of the women in the household. Secondly, electricity may improve the quality of life for some members of the family, allowing them to read or watch television, while for women, it may simply extend the burdens of the working day into the evening hours when they would otherwise be able to rest. Attention to these sorts of differing interests is needed in order to achieve effective and equitable distribution of energy services.

At Lotus Project we understand that using a ‘gender mainstreaming’ approach ensures that the different impacts for men and women are evaluated so that gender inequality is not perpetuated. Mainstreaming gender issues in the design and implementation of our RDM also increases the effectiveness of such programs and benefits women and their societies.

YASMIN MADJITEY

Why a Gendered Approach is Necessary in Rural Electrification