Focal area: Womens economic empowerment
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Three women talk about their new lives as Solar Sister Entrepreneurs.
Anthonia Agwunobi, a mother of 5, is a primary school teacher in Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria. Before becoming a Solar Sister Entrepreneur, Anthonia relied exclusively on her meager earnings as a teacher to support her family. Built on the trust and popularity as a well-respected teacher, Anthonia developed her business quickly in the early…
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Awa’s business expansion held back by Covid-19
Awa Sène was overjoyed when she took delivery of her second solar freezer in April 2021, a decision she had reached after discussing expansion plans with Energy 4 Impact Business Mentor, Dominique Thiaw. She immediately set out to widen her customer base to the surrounding villages. After a difficult period in which her business had…
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Energy and Gender in Asia: A regional review
The ongoing global energy transition towards a low carbon and sustainable future has the potential to bring far-reaching and systematic changes to our societies. This transition offers several opportunities for greater social justice and gender equality and is likely to create pathways to improve women’s quality of life. While making inroads into entrenched social structures,…
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Susanna Simon – Bringing light to the dark night
In a Maasai village in northern Tanzania, when the sky turns from deep marine blue at dusk to black night, the stars sparkle like jewels in the sky. Despite the big open sky, Solar Sister Entrepreneur Susanna Simon’s community is dark with only a few pinpricks of light coming from kerosene lamps. Most of the…
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New steps towards greater efficiency and autonomy
Once she had finally paid off her solar water pump last June, thanks to the grant received through ENERGIA’s Covid19 Solidarity Fund, and with enough capital for seedlings, feritiliser and labour Aïssata Ba took some time at the end of the summer to prepare her land for a new agricultural cycle. She had already bought…
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Internships at ENERGIA
Region: Worldwide Office: Hivos Hub Global Office, The Hague (or remote from any other place in the world) Application deadline: January 15, 2022 We are currently seeking to appoint highly motivated individuals enrolled in a master’s, postmasters, or doctorate program with experience working on energy and/or economic issues. Are you interested in social development, equity…
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New Energy Ecosystem Can Aggravate Existing Inequalities If Gender Gap Is Not Addressed
This interview was originally published on the Heinrich Böll Foundation website. Authored by by Daniel Abunales and Lea Goelnitz Why is it important to integrate gender equality in the energy transition debate? Silvia Sartori: Women and men have different energy needs and use energy differently. Globally, women have less access to and control over…
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Women’s work is never done: Lifting the gendered burden of firewood collection and household energy use in Kenya
In rural Kenya, firewood is used for cooking and heating by 9 out of every 10 households due to its affordability, availability and convenience. This study was carried out using social and natural science methods to understand women’s energy burdens and the reasons for the persistent use of firewood. Firewood remains the main source of…
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The gender and energy nexus: Interview with Magi Matinga
What do we mean by gender and how does this relate to energy? What do we mean by gender perspective? Magi Matinga, Techincal Advisor at ENERGIA, guides us through these aspects, highlighting how women and men have different energy needs and how taking or not into account this diversity could influence their life, perpetuate gender…
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The ENERGIA Solidarity Fund helps revive the businesses of women affected by the pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted lives all around the world, including markets and businesses in sub-Saharan Africa. Many of the entrepreneurs that Energy 4 Impact supports in various sectors of the Senegalese economy have also suffered from the impacts of the crisis. But the Solidarity Fund established by the ENERGIA Network has provided a lifeline…
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Millicent’s challenges and successes to scale up her energy business
Marketing trainings offered to Millicent Akinyi Dula by Practical Action’s Women in Energy Enterprises in Kenya project have not only been a life changing opportunity to her energy business but her life as a whole. The mother of six, who identified product demonstration as an ideal strategy to sell her clean energy business during the…
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Rebecca is promoting productive uses of energy to enhance livelihoods in her community
Rebecca Aseyo’s dream of opening a portable solar products shop within Kakamega County’s Central Business District is finally a reality. Through the County Government, Rebecca was able to secure a stall that goes for Ksh.3000 monthly (USD 28). As also planned, her engagement with the local management team from Sunking Kakamega was successful and they…