Member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have been urged to adopt the regional bloc’s framework for gender mainstreaming in the energy sector to ensure inclusion.
The framework comprises the 2017 ECOWAS Policy on Gender Mainstreaming for Energy Access, and the ECOWAS Directive on Gender Assessment in Energy Projects which serves as policy guideline.
A former chairperson of the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA), IfeyIkeonu, who made the call on Saturday, said member states were to adopt the directives.
She also stressed the need to put in place the relevant institutional and legal arrangements for implementation within two years, of the coming into force of the directive, which many of them were yet to do so.
“This continues to impact negatively on the ability of the sub-region to leverage social developments that can come from a more pro-active approach to gender mainstreaming”, she said on the last of a four-day workshop held at Akosombo in the Eastern Region.
The workshop aimed to build the capacity of communication experts from the electricity regulatory authorities of the member countries on the development of the ECOWAS regional electricity market, and the fundamentals of electricity regulation to enable them to effectively create public awareness.
Attended by 13 representatives from 11 member states including Ghana, it was organised by ERERA under the European Union (EU)-funded programme on Improving the Governance of the Energy Sector in the ECOWAS region which partly focuses on building the capacity of stakeholders on the electricity market.
Mrs Ikeonu, who is a senior expert in energy regulation on the programme, said the policy set forth five primary strategic objectives, including ensuring that that all energy policies, programmes and initiatives were non-discriminatory, gender-inclusive, gender-balanced and directed towards addressing energy poverty.
She said the target of one of the objectives which sought to increase women’s public sector participation in energy-related technical fields, and decision making positions was that at least 25 per cent women in the public sector energy workforce by 2020 and an equal (50-50) gender balance by 2030.
She said although ECOWAS was one of the first regions in the continent to put in place such a framework for gender mainstreaming in the energy sector, the major challenge remained with implementation.
Mrs Ikeonu, therefore, urged participants to increase advocacy and sensitisation on the issue of gender mainstreaming to stimulate action from key actors.
She said the regulatory authorities should take the lead in implementing their role under the directive which included the appointment of a gender focal person/gender focal unit and encouragement of female applicants for technical positions, and create enabling work environment for them.
The Chairman of ERERA, Professor Honoré Bogler, admonished participants to impact their respective offices, and ensure that aside from the mainstreaming of gender in their activities, they would work to help to fully actualise the vision to create a regional electricity market.
FROM JONATHAN DONKOR, AKOSOMBO
