Promoting technology as a game changer in promoting women empowerment

In September this year, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality (UN) Women, in partnership with the Government of South Africa, Department of Energy and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), released a call for renewable energy technologies to be exhibited at the upcoming South African International Renewable Energy Conference, sairec.org.za , which will take place from 4-7 October, in Cape Town, South Africa.

 

The initiative aims to promote technologies that have a positive impact on women’s lives, especially those technologies that will improve the living conditions of rural and peri-urban women and their households.

 

This is in light of the fact that women, especially those from rural and peri-urban households, are disproportionately and negatively impacted upon by limited access to clean and affordable energy. Universal access to safe, sustainable, affordable and reliable energy is a basic human right and a critical issue for sustainable development, and yet many women in poor households continue to live without reliable sources of energy, relying on open fires and other unsafe sources of heat and light, increasing their vulnerability and placing significant burdens on them as well as impacting on their health, safety, education and livelihood opportunities.

 

The event will target policy makers in government, United Nations agencies, parastatals, the private sector and civil society organisations. Those projects that are chosen will form part of an exhibition at the conference, which will culminate with a high-level panel discussion on the topic “Renewable Energy Technologies: Improving Women’s Lives”.

 

Additional support will be provided to nominees to further develop their products for the purpose of sharing, incubating and scaling up. Those exhibiting will also receive certificates of recognition. The successful technologies will also be branded as SAIREC legacy technology and Innovative projects.

 

The full details of the project can be found at sairec.org.za.

 

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