. Over 50 women certified in women empowerment in clean energy
BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – The Government of Eswatini has shown and shared appreciation for the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP).
This was during the Certification programme for Women Empowerment in Clean Energy facilitated by the Centre for Sustainable Energy Research UNDP Eswatini and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy.
The acting Principal Secretary (PS) Scelo Nxumalo said It is a privilege and honour as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy to be part of the project , where mothers and sisters were being capacitated on the business opportunities in the renewable energy sector.
He said this training had three objectives being capacity building to develop new businesses or technical skills for women energy entrepreneurs to join renewable energy markets, boosting support to women-led energy associations and networks and/or stimulating demand for existing or emerging women-led or gender-responsive products and services.
“The Ministry greatly appreciates the UNDP for funding this training which compliments other Government’s gender responsive programmes headed by the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office in collaboration with different stakeholders including the Ministry. This work is a direct complement to the Ministry’s efforts to see gender mainstream in the energy sector’s activities,” said Nxumalo.
He further said the Ministry’s gender mainstreaming initiative is informed by the National Energy Policy of 2018 in recognition of the prevailing under-representation of women in the energy sector.
Worth mentioning is that the sector has few women/female engineers and technicians as well as women in decision making positions. The National Gender Policy (2010/2022) equal opportunities for men, women, boys, and girls in all sectors of development.
“Just recently, the Ministry working together with stakeholders which include UNDP, DPM’s Office and the Ministry of Education, among others, conducted a certification ceremony where 30 girls and 10 boys were attached to various energy companies in the country. This activity was aimed at raising the appetite of the girl child on the STEM subjects,” he said.
In addition, the PS said the sharing of experiences by the participants shows that the training workshop has indeed impacted positively on their business appetite and has provided more insight on the type of business areas available within the energy sector.
“ I believe that all the facilitators have given you more motivation to pursue businesses in the energy sector. Graduands, the ball is now in your court,” he said.
He further applauded the partnership the ministry has with its sister ministries and development partners like UNDP, which seek to improve the life of Emaswati meeting Sustainable Development Goal (1), (2), (3), (5) and 7.
“No poverty as you will be creating employment to put food on the table, from a healthy kitchen as you will be using clean sources of energy to provide for the energy needs in our society. May I once again congratulate the participants for taking part in this training and I am looking forward to engaging with them as they will soon join as the Ministry’s key stakeholders in the energy sector,” he said.
