Mesoamerican Network on Gender in Sustainable Energy (GENES)
April – July 2002
Prepared for the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) of the World Bank
Prepared by: Winrock International
September 2002
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This report reflects a joint and sustained effort among the various organizations and individuals who comprise and support the Mesoamerican Gender in Sustainable Energy (GENES) network, in particular its national and regional coordinators, and the energy and gender experts who were selected from the region to work together in linking gender methodologies with sustainable energy project approaches.
Asociación Andar, Adesol Honduras and Fundación CORDES deserve special recognition for their enthusiastic efforts in hosting the three workshops in Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador, respectively. Fundación NATURA from Panama, the National Technological University of Nicaragua, and Línea Biosfera from Chiapas, Mexico, also merit special thanks for leading the coordination of their countries’ participation in the workshops. Fundación Solar, as GENES regional coordinator, played a critical role in facilitating the execution of the workshop series, coordinating with all mentioned organizations and the three facilitators to ensure successful outcomes of the workshops. The authors would like to thank Fundación NATURA for the added financial support to the Costa Rica-Panama workshop, and to Vivian Lanuza, GENES Regional Coordinator, and her colleagues at Fundación Solar for ongoing personal and institutional commitment, both philosophical and financial, to advancing gender in energy throughout the region.
A special acknowledgement is due to the workshops’ facilitators, Aracely Hernández from Nicaragua, and Diacuy Mesquita and Suyapa Fajardo from Honduras, for whom the linkage of gender with energy was a new concept. The teamwork that emerged among the facilitators and coordinators was remarkable, and sparked a lasting awareness of the importance of gender to energy and vice-versa.
Finally, these workshops and the advancement of gender in energy in the region would not have been possible without the financial support of the primary sponsor, the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), as well as the continued complementary support for GENES activities from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Both institutions seek to improve the ability of energy services to reduce poverty and provide means for equitable development through increased access by women and men to critical energy inputs. Their commitment to building regional capacity to enable this goal to be achieved is greatly appreciated by the GENES network and its supporters.
CONTENTS
| ACRONYMS |
| I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY |
| II. BACKGROUND |
| III. WORKSHOP METHODOLOGY/CONCEPTS |
| IV. WORKSHOP RESULTS |
| V. CONCLUSIONS |
| VI. RECOMMENDATIONS |
MJMNF PREEICA PROLEÑA PROCCAPA
PROMUJER
PROGENIAL SAE SEDESOL Estatal SEDESOL Federal SERNA SOLARIS SOLUZ UNAN/ESECA RUCFA
UNI UTP WI
(Guatemala) Ministry of Youth, Women, Childhood and Family (Panama) Regional Electricity Project of the Central American Isthmus NGO with dendroenergy focus (Nicaragua) Conservation of the Panama Canal Hydrographic Watershed
Project Program for Promotion of Rural Women, Secretariat of Public Works of the First Lady (SOSEP) Program on Gender in Latin America, World Bank
Secretariat of Strategic Analysis (Guatemala) State Secretariat of Social Development (Mexico) Federal Secretariat of Social Development (Mexico) Secretary of Natural Resources and Environment (Honduras) Solar Systems of Honduras Soluz Honduras National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, Recinto
Universitario Carlos Fonseca Amador National Engineering University (Nicaragua) Panamanian Technological University Winrock International
Between April and July 2002, a series of two bi-national and one tri-national workshop on gender and sustainable energy was conducted for members of the Mesoamerican Network on Gender in Sustainable Energy (GENES). The workshops represent an important component of a project of the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), managed by Winrock International in close collaboration with the GENES Regional Coordinator, Fundación Solar in Guatemala. Support from ESMAP is enabling the GENES network to undertake specific capacity-building and project development activities identified as priorities by the network, with receives complementary support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Over 60 people from NGOs, universities, producer groups, government agencies and the private sector participated in the workshops, which were held between neighboring countries: Costa Rica and Panama; Honduras and Nicaragua; and El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. This report provides a synthesis of the outcomes of these workshops, including some insights into how energy sector and development practitioners and policy-makers can begin to put into practice more equitable and needs-responsive development initiatives where energy of one form or another plays a critical role.
These workshops, held in Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador, respectively, were developed to respond to a priority need identified by GENES members for increased capacity in the region to better respond to women’s and men’s distinct needs for energy services, particularly in rural areas, and to provide more equitable access to energy services that promote development in harmony with the environment. Few examples exist in Mesoamerica of rural energy initiatives that have taken gender-specific needs into account. At the same time, the region is full of development practitioners well-versed in the theory and practice of participatory, gender-sensitive approaches to understanding community needs, involving men, women, youth and elderly in defining what is priority and what is not, and in determining the most appropriate solutions for addressing the most pressing needs. Many such development practitioners are not, however, focused on or familiar with “energy” as a need, or of sustainable energy options that could meet those needs.
Through these workshops, GENES members sought to build an understanding of how exactly gender affects energy needs; how renewable energy technologies might meet distinct needs; and how to apply tools and methods that yield more gender-sensitive, more sustainable rural energy initiatives. ESMAP is helping to advance these objectives, providing support for the gender and energy workshop series, regional exchanges, and pilot projects that will apply the learning and provide new experiences and lessons for incorporating gender in energy.
Participants expressed overall high satisfaction with the workshops, indicating that their expectations were largely met if not surpassed. On behalf of their organizations and institutions, participants identified concrete steps that they believed should and could be taken as initial steps toward more gender-sensitive sustainable energy project and program development. At the same time, participants identified synergies among groups with complementary experiences within the same country, as well as in neighboring countries, thereby stimulating several collaborations on specific project proposals, and the identification of further follow-up exchanges in areas of mutual interest. These synergies and collaborations have strengthened the national sub-networks as well as provided a clearer identity and greater cohesion for the network at the regional level.
Workshop coordinators expect that the resulting insights will benefit not only the participants and their respective institutions, but also the broader regional and global community that seeks guidance on how to apply gender in energy.
During the GENES-ESMAP project launch meeting held in Antigua, Guatemala, in August 2001, GENES country coordinators validated the goals, objectives, and the central activities outlined for the funding being provided by the ESMAP program to the GENES network. The goals, objectives and activities were developed based on the vision and mission of the network, and priorities that had been voiced in previous coordinator meetings. These priorities were agreed upon by the World Bank Task Manager and the GENES-ESMAP project manager, Winrock International.
The overarching goal of the GENES-ESMAP project is to increase equitable access to sustainable energy by rural and peri-urban populations, so that available energy sources serve both women’s and men’s energy needs in the productive as well as domestic spheres. Specifically, the project aims to:
Identify, pilot and disseminate innovative energy techniques/systems that meet women’s and men’s multi-needs and uses, and at the same time are efficient, economically and technically viable, culturally and environmentally appropriate and sustainable;
Identify, adapt and test participatory approaches with a gender perspective, i.e. that work with and involve both women and men on energy techniques/systems for multi-needs and uses; Reduce time use due to energy-related tasks such as fuelwood and water collection, and ensure gender-equitable access to energy for productive and income generating activities; Identify constraints for introducing and operating new energy systems to meet women’s and men’s multi-needs and uses as well as opportunities for overcoming these constraints; and Disseminate findings within and outside the GENES network, the World Bank and other international organizations.
Within this framework, GENES national coordinators agreed to organize a series of encounters and exchanges among member countries to enrich understanding and capabilities related to gender and energy. The coordinators decided that a series of workshops, repeated around the region for GENES member organizations, was a priority for establishing a base of common understanding within the network and a basis for taking action to apply gender and energy concepts. Costa Rica, Honduras and El Salvador were selected as the host countries for three bi- and tri-national workshops, respectively.
While the workshops would be repeated with the same instructors and the same core objectives and agenda, coordinators agreed that it was important to include sessions on experiences specific to the participating countries, and to enable enough flexibility to respond to particular needs identified by participants. Reflecting GENES membership, some participants had experience with solar energy, micro-hydro, improved wood stoves or biogas, but little familiarity with gender concepts; others were familiar with gender-sensitive, participatory development processes, but had little information about experiences in the region with renewable energy technologies. Similarly, participants spanned a range of levels of influence, from government program planners to non-governmental development practitioners, university professors and researchers, and private sector entrepreneurs.
Two workshop facilitators from the region, one gender expert1 and one renewable energy expert, were selected through an open solicitation to conduct the series of three workshops. In this way, GENES coordinators aimed to establish consistency among the workshops; use resources efficiently; build relationships with local experts; and build capacity in each of the facilitators to address the other’s area of expertise.
1 Due to scheduling conflicts, the third workshop needed to be rescheduled to a time when the original gender facilitator was not available. Materials and concepts were transferred to the replacement facilitator to ensure the greatest consistency possible for the third workshop.
WORKSHOP METHODOLOGY AND CONTENT
Through a participatory process, GENES coordinators developed the following workshop objectives:
General Objectives
Motivate the incorporation of a gender focus and the use of renewable and/or sustainable technologies within the institutions, projects and programs of GENES member organizations, as well as other actors that seek to incorporate or otherwise associate with the network.
Present different renewable and sustainable energy technological options and their applications in
the region. Introduce the concepts of gender theory and their relationship with energy. Examine the intersection that exists between gender and energy. Initiate a process of increased involvement of women as beneficiaries and decision-makers in the
energy field. Establish a base of information, goals and initial commitments, as well as next steps. Identify opportunities for implementing projects in the short term that can demonstrate the benefit
of applying a gender perspective to rural energy initiatives.
Specific Objectives
♦ Become familiar with various types of renewable energy technologies, their applications and
trends in their use. ♦ Understand the principle concepts of gender equity. ♦ Reflect on the relationship between gender equity, sustainable development, and renewable
energy, and identify how key concepts of gender equity can be applied in the workplace and in the field. ♦ Familiarize with recent advances in the gender and energy nexus. ♦ Become familiar with gender methodologies, their uses and limitations.
At the onset of the workshop, participants completed a survey2 designed to establish baseline information on the participating organizations, including whether or not they had previously participated in gender training or had experience with renewable energy, whether their institutions had gender-sensitive policies, and so on. (See Annex 3 for surveys applied) Facilitators conducted an exercise to solicit participant expectations, using cards that were posted throughout the workshop. A final survey was conducted at the conclusion of the workshop, in which participants recorded specific actions that they believed their institutions could and should undertake to incorporate gender in energy initiatives. (See Annex 7 for specific actions identified by institution)
Workshop coordinators aimed to combine theory with enough practical tools and exercises to enable participants to immediately begin to put the concepts into practice following the workshops. Due to a strong request by GENES members for capacity-building in the fundamental principles of gender theory, and to establish a common base of understanding, the trainers introduced basic gender concepts using a combination of presentations, exercises, videos and discussions in large and small groups. The trainers agreed that understanding of basic concepts and terminology is essential for effective communication on the subject.
Thus, early in the workshops, the trainers demystified the term “gender,” which is commonly misinterpreted to mean “women;” illustrated gender roles, how they are defined by society, and how they can change; raised awareness of gender divisions of labor and how women often play a “triple role”, as
2 Developed by Fundación Solar (GENES Regional Coordinator) and Winrock International (GENES-ESMAP Project Coordinator).
domestic but unpaid worker, income-earner outside the home, and community care-taker; and introduced key concepts used in gender analysis, such as practical versus strategic needs and interests, and access and control of resources and benefits. The facilitators showed two videos3 commonly used among gender trainers in Latin America to illustrate socially defined roles of men and women in the household and in the workforce, and how these roles can change with changes in access and control of resources and other influencing factors.
As the workshops progressed, facilitators introduced common gender analysis tools and checklists, most derived from the Harvard Framework, focusing on those that were simplest to apply while at the same time reinforcing important concepts for any development project to address. (See Annex 4 for gender analysis guidelines and check list) Participants worked in small groups to apply these tools, first to exercises taken from gender analysis workbooks, and ultimately to actual projects with which the participants themselves were familiar.
The sustainable energy presentations included an overview of solar electric and solar thermal technologies; small and large-scale wind systems; small-scale hydroelectric systems; and biomass energy from direct combustion as well as anaerobic digestion (biogas). The facilitator presented pertinent characteristics of each resource, including its physical behavior, how it is measured, its reliability and its sensitivity to site-specific conditions; as well as basic system components, operations and maintenance requirements, relative economics, and common applications.
The thermal applications presented included solar hot water heating, crop drying (e.g. fruit, herbs, wood) and water distillation; and efficient cooking technologies and techniques (low fuel use, low emissions, high heat transfer) including from direct combustion of wood or other biomass (dung, coffee husks or other crop residue) in efficient stoves, use of biogas digesters, and fireless cooking with hayboxes.4 Electric applications included water pumping; telecommunications; lighting; appliances for household use and use in schools, clinics or other community centers, and micro-enterprises; grain grinding and other food processing. Mechanical applications included grain grinding with mills driven by hydro or wind energy.
To ground the concepts presented even further, each workshop incorporated a technology demonstration and/or a field visit to a project site where participants could see one or more applications of sustainable energy technologies. The field visits provided valuable, “un-programmed” time for open discussion and exchange of experiences among the participants. In the case of Costa Rica, the workshop was accompanied by a 2-day exchange on solar coffee drying and solar cooking. The second and third workshops included hands-on demonstrations of solar (photovoltaic, PV) lighting and water pumping, and brief field visits to projects involving PV pumping and electrification; solar fruit and wood drying; and improved cook stoves. These visits and the surrounding discussions reinforced participant interest in conducting follow-up exchanges to pursue specific innovations in more depth.
Given the prevalent and serious problem of inefficient fuelwood use and associated respiratory illness and environmental degradation around the region, a third video was shown5, a visual synthesis of the first
3 “Ana,” a ½-hour simulation of rural life. “El Sueño Imposible?”, a 5-minute animated film. 4 Hayboxes are known by various names, but the principle involves an insulated container into which a pot of food, which has already been heated, is placed to finish cooking by retaining the heat already transferred to the pot. Beans, for example, typically require 1 to 3 hours of stovetop cooking, depending on whether they have been soaked prior to cooking, on their type and on their age. The majority of stovetop cooking time (and associated fuel use) can be avoided by bringing the beans to a boil, removing them from the heat, and placing them in an insulated box or “tea cozy” that prevents heat from escaping. This is the equivalent of simmering. Some adjustments in time may need to be made to account for altitude (effect of atmospheric pressure). 5 “Intercambio Mesoamericano sobre Técnicas Efficientes de Cocción y Estufas Mejoradas”, Antigua, Guatemala, August 2001. Produced by Winrock International and World Bank/ESMAP.
GENES regional exchange supported with ESMAP funds. This video shares experiences around the region in recent years with a range of improved cooking techniques and technologies. In the Costa Rica workshop, the GENES coordinator shared a video of a field project where gender methods have been applied in developing an “eco-ranch”, including the use of agroecology techniques are being implemented by women and men.
Throughout the workshops, the trainers interwove the gender concepts presented together with men’s and women’s relationships to energy resources and services. Presentations and demonstrations on sustainable energy technologies and applications were interspersed with the gender concepts, and participants were able to see how women and men tend to have distinct needs and interests for energy services, depending on their gender roles, particularly in rural areas where division of labor is most notable. For those who previously were uninformed about sustainable energy technologies, their awareness was raised as to how certain applications might address one or more practical or strategic needs characteristic of women and men.
The learning process culminated in the application of gender analysis tools to “case studies” prepared in advance and presented by one or two groups per country. In preparation for the workshops, each national network had been encouraged to prepare a project profile or “case study” project for purposes of discussion and exchanging experiences. Group exercises focused on analyzing how the projects could be improved with a gender focus. Table 1 lists the case studies presented by each national network.
Table 1. Case Studies Presented
During the case study exercises, participants were asked to use the gender analysis tools they had learned in previous sessions to assess how well the cases presented had addressed gender within an energy project, if at all, and how these projects and ones similar to them could be improved by incorporating a gender focus. Participants developed access and control profiles, analyzed practical and strategic needs, and considered other relevant influencing factors. The facilitators asked participants to structure their discussions by addressing the following questions:
What key gender aspects were contemplated—or not contemplated—in the project? What were the impacts of having taken (or not) a gender focus? Which were the favorable and unfavorable conditions that were present, are present, and which
give potential for gender equity to be increased in this project? What recommendations can be offered in terms of concrete steps to:
- Improve the project presented; and
- Develop similar future projects that are gender-sensitive.
The preparation, presentation and group analysis of case studies by participants proved highly useful, both for purposes of having concrete examples with which to practice applying gender tools, and in terms of providing concrete recommendations to the presenting organizations on how their projects could be improved. The case studies underscored the relative absence of a gender focus in current renewable energy projects and the urgent necessity that this signals for a gender focus to be incorporated from the conceptualization stage of any project. The absence of a practical methodological guide for incorporating gender in energy interventions was also made very apparent. A summary of observations and recommendations resulting from the case study analyses is presented in the following section. For examples of the outputs of the group exercises, see Annex 5.
Also key to the workshops was the topic of gender-sensitive indicator development, as applied to energy innovations. A few participants had worked with developing gender-sensitive impact indicators for their projects; however, as expected, almost none of the energy practitioners have worked with indicators that aim to measure socio-economic impacts, and only one or two groups have tried to track even basic indicators on a gender-disaggregated basis. The workshops involved several discussions on indicators, including a presentation by Winrock on indicators developed to monitor the advancement of gender and energy in the region through GENES activities, including increases in local and regional capacity to incorporate gender in energy; changes in participation of men and women in project development and implementation; changes in institutional polices, practices and financial commitments to better meet women’s and men’s energy needs; and changes in the amount and reach of information exchange within and beyond the GENES network. (See Annex 6 for GENES-ESMAP project indicators)
In the Costa Rica and El Salvador workshops, respectively, two presentations on gender-sensitive indicators, one by a gender specialist6 addressing the stages of project conceptualization and development, and the other by an energy practitioner7 on initial indicators developed specifically for solar energy projects. Workshop participants agreed that more work is needed to develop a core set of indicators that can be relatively easily adapted to a variety of sustainable energy projects. The participants who have experience with gender-sensitive indicators development will serve as a valuable resource to groups that lack this experience, as they seek to monitor the impact of their projects. (See Annex 8 for a bibliography of relevant resources.)
6 Ileana Ramírez Quiróz, COOPESOLIDAR, Costa Rica 7 Leontine van den Hooven, Fundación Solar, Guatemala. Indicators developed by Katja Winkler and Leontine van den Hooven.
The workshops resulted in new understanding of concepts previously unfamiliar or poorly understood, including the term “gender” itself, which commonly gets misinterpreted throughout the region as referring to “women” or women’s issues, as unrelated to men or other family members. With this broader understanding of gender, and the exposure provided through case studies, technical demonstrations and site visits of practical applications of sustainable energy, workshop participants were able to identify specific actions that could and should be taken in each of their respective spheres of influence to ensure that both women’s and men’s needs are accounted for in energy projects and programs. Several collaborations were spawned to work together within a country to advance GENES objectives, and in some cases to work together on proposals for pilot projects to apply the concepts learned in the workshops and “learn by doing.”
During the workshops, participants worked in small groups to apply gender tools and techniques, such as those used to assess issues of access and control of resources and benefits, to case study exercises as well as to the cases presented by their colleagues of actual project experiences with rural energy. These exercises provided insights into new ways of approaching project development. Participants also worked in groups by country to identify synergies and actions that could be taken collaboratively within their national GENES networks.
The bi- and tri-national workshop structure appears to have been very useful for exchanging experiences and building regional bonds. The workshops brought together neighboring countries that share many common cultural, socio-economic and environmental characteristics, so that participants could identify to a large extent with the experiences of others. At the same time, participants from one country could benefit from the differences in perspective and approach of the neighboring country. Numerous ideas emerged about exchanges within and between countries that could further facilitate practical learning and lead to specific project action.
Outcomes presented here include:
Observations and recommendations made in case study exercises. Summaries of priority exchanges identified and pilot project proposals submitted by participants. Preliminary actions taken by participant organizations following workshops.
Case Studies: Observations and Recommendations
Examples of the case study exercises can be found in Annex 5. Specific observations and recommendations resulting from these exercises and ensuing discussions included:
Incorporate a gender focus from a project’s conceptualization through execution and follow-up.
Begin any project development process with participatory assessments with women and men to identify practical needs, and recognize the benefit of focusing projects on resolving those practical needs that tend to address strategic needs. For example, a project involving PV water pumping for crop irrigation, or a project on solar fruit drying, should not be aimed at growing and processing products for sale if they don’t first address basic nutrition needs (of children, elderly, women, men).
Recognize that energy is not an end in itself, but rather a means for achieving better life conditions. The renewable energy projects should respond to the demands of the community, for better acceptance. It is important that donor organizations support projects that respond to both practical needs as well as strategic needs, determined on a gender-disaggregated basis. This will significantly affect project sustainability.
Women should be included from the initial phase through the entire project, and should participate in the technical trainings. Technical field staff, producers, farmers, etc., should be made aware of renewable energy, with a gender focus.
Understand who has access and control of resources and benefits, to ensure that the projects will be fully adopted, and will be equitable. For example, in one case where women are in charge of irrigation for vegetable production and a savings fund created to provide small loans to women in the collective, if men have contributed the land (from inheritance), the labor for the well and the PV pumping, and are the ones to provide financial support through various sources of subsidy or credit (only provided to men, as landowners), then a tension may arise if the men then have no control over the project.
Inter-institutional coordination is key for developing this type of project due to the socioenvironmental context in which they exist. It is important to assess the positive and negative impacts of the projects to be implemented, to avoid resulting in a greater work burden for women (or men), rather than the intended impact of relieving time and physical burdens. Questions can be established to help value the projects, such as:
Who will benefit directly and indirectly from the energy project, and how?
What repercussions will the energy project have on daily life for men and women?
Who will be the responsible parties, or who will have control of and access to the benefits of the energy project? What activities will women and men engage in during the time that has been liberated by the energy project?
Indicators that enable project results—positive and negative—to be evaluated should be established from the very beginning. All projects should have follow-up and evaluation to measure the degree and permanence of the achievements reached. If it is determined that the project lacks a gender focus, it is important to make adjustments to enable the project to respond to the practical and strategic needs of the community.
In an example presented by the sustainable energy facilitator, a mini-hydro project that was implemented to promote productive uses in a community appears to be very “successful” when the “results” are tabulated. They include impressive numbers on the number of refrigerators, carpentry shops, small restaurants, dentist offices, bakery, electric grain mills, solder shops, pool hall, gas station, photocopy shop, radio station and rice processing business, all of which appear to bring benefits to the community. Specific benefits claimed include a large number of permanent jobs created, night classes in the school, lab services in the clinic, and water purification. Upon further assessment, however, the questions arise about who is benefiting from these services? Who owns the businesses? Who accesses and who controls the income? What is it used for? The answers to these questions are invisible, due to lack of disaggregated data (a minimum step), and more generally a lack of a more comprehensive gender focus. By establishing gender-sensitive indicators from the beginning, the impacts of this project would be much more thoroughly understood.
The level of organization of the community is very important for the sustainability of any renewable energy project, and it has been shown that women can play important roles within these organizations. Renewable energy projects should consider/take into account organizational and enterprise formation and strengthening assistance, as well as training for personal empowerment with equity.
A methodological guide should be developed by GENES to synthesize these and other lessons in the most practical and accessible format possible.
Action Items Identified by Country
On the last day of the workshop, participants were given time to work in groups by country to identify concrete actions that could be taken in the short, medium and long term, with the objective of determining which would be next steps to follow at which levels: by institution, as sub-networks at the national level, or at the regional network level. This visioning of actions represents an important input for GENES as a network, as well as for ESMAP, in order to best determine the best investment of resources and reduce inequities.
The following table synthesizes the concrete actions presented by the participants as a result of their discussions by country.
Table 2: Action Items By Country
| COUNTRY | ACTIONS BY COUNTRY |
| Costa Rica | • Replicate the workshop: energy, gender and sustainable development • Hold an exchange on lessons learned with improved stoves. • [note that group exercise yielded mostly good lists of “who’s who”, rather than specific actions] |
| Panama | GENES-Panama: • Establish a training center of clean technologies in the Canal Zone. • Establish a community in the Darién province as a model for the use of improved stoves and biodigester, as a complementary component to an existing project integrating agroecology and school kitchens for improved nutrition. • Take action to include of gender as a specific area of study within the post-grad and Masters programs offered by the faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technological University of Panama, with support from other participant organizations. • Take action to include sustainable energy as a complementary subject in the Donations program (gender already included). • Work on policy influence, raising awareness of the existence of “friendly technologies.” • Promote exchanges with organizations from Costa Rica, given the proximity and contacts established. • Develop joint initiatives among GENES-Panama network members within Panama, as well as at an international level with Costa Rica, with the aim of promoting development of marginalized groups and communities, particularly women, indigenous and youth. |
| Honduras | • Focus on a specific project to explore possible collaborations. Project should integrate gender concepts and sustainable energy technologies into an existing “multi-use ecological farm” in El Hábeas, Choluteca, with the aim to increase environmental consciousness, protect natural resources, and promote ecotourism and sustainable development in the surrounding communities. Project planning would involve the application of gender-sensitive socioeconomic studies and participatory methods. • The Honduran Council on Science and Technology (COHCIT) will focus on its fourth “Solar Village” (Aldea Solar) project which it plans to use as a model for future Solar Village projects, taking lessons from the preceding three projects, as well as insights from this workshop. Workshop participants generated useful insights for COHCIT, applying gender analysis questions and analyzing issues of access and control to resources and benefits in the project. • Seek experiences with improved stoves; Eco-stoves of particular interest. |
| Nicaragua | • Create an “annual plan” for GENES-Nicaragua, based on the needs identified by network members. • Develop proposals to seek financing for rural energy initiatives utilizing sustainable energy. • Begin applying tools acquired in workshop to develop more equitable projects, while seeking further assistance in the incorporation of gender in project formulation, implementation and evaluation. • Hold exchanges to increase experience with application of gender methods. |
| El Salvador | • Identify and visit experiences with solar water pumping for crop production. • Seek assistance in revising project design to include gender focus, to integrate rural participatory assessments with a gender focus from the beginning of project development. • Present to GENES a proposal on fruit dehydration and coffee drying, to initiate in 2002. • Host visitors and share experience in solar drying with women’s groups. • Seek assistance in creating a network for women and men users of solar energy systems. • Disseminate information on the experiences shared at the workshop with other GENES members. • Synergies identified (beyond participants) included a large number of community-based organizations and local NGOs, as well as the environment ministry (MARN), two universities, and the El Salvador Environmental Protection Program (PAES) managed by ABT Associates and implemented by |
| Winrock/El Salvador. Areas of expertise and experience among groups identified include: solar | |
| drying of fruit, coffee and wood (for furniture and crafts); water pumping with PV and with bicycle | |
| pedal power; and pedal-powered grain grinding. | |
| Mexico | • Visit projects involving solar dryers in Guarjila, Chalatenango, El Salvador. Invite decision makers as well as producers. |
| • Visit rural education centers in Honduras (September). | |
| • Visit women assemblers of solar PV panels and of efficient wood stoves (EcoStoves) in Nicaragua (October). | |
| • Hold meetings with municipal authorities, as well as other social and institutional actors. | |
| • Carry out additional gender and sustainable energy workshops. | |
| • Gather information and research on the use of renewable energy in Chiapas and/or Mexico in general. | |
| • Identify and catalyze gender and energy projects. | |
| • Promote new membership in GENES-Mexico. Synergies identified (beyond participants) included several state and federal institutions with funds and programs potentially relevant for gender and sustainable energy initiatives, including the Institute for Women, local and municipal authorities, the National Forest Commission, the Institute of Natural History and Ecology, and the Secretary of Agrarian Reform. Some of these institutions have gender policies that mainstream the topic across all programs; others promote renewable energy and may or may not have gender-sensitive policies. | |
| Guatemala | • Develop a map of actors, pursue synergies, and organize exchanges. |
| • Determine the success and projected future of improved stoves programs, including results of studies by the University of El Valle and University of California at Berkeley on exposure to indoor air pollutants for different stove interventions. | |
| • Establish inter-institutional initiative on solar drying, including exchange visits to relevant projects. Of particular interest to NGO Association Ak’ Tenamit in Izabal, which is already sensitized to gender issues. | |
| • Coordinate a meeting within the energy sector on policies and indicators with a gender focus, with key actors in the political, economic and social spheres. | |
| • Synergies identified beyond participants include: the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA); the National Network toward Equity (REDNA/Fundación Guatemala); the Association of Gender Equity of the Electricity Subsector of the Central American Isthmus (ASEGICA); the Gender Unit at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA); the Women’s Consultative Group of the Ministry of Health; UNICEF; the Presidential Secretary for Women (SEPREM). |
In addition to these group outputs, each participant identified institution-specific actions on behalf of his/her organization or institution, in a final, brief survey administered prior to closure of the workshops. Workshop facilitators encouraged participants to be as concrete as possible in identifying practical next steps that could be taken, according to the institutions’ particular strengths and deficiencies, to approach more gender-sensitive, more sustainable development in which energy plays an important—if under-recognized—role. Participants were also asked to indicate the synergies they had identified with other participating organizations, or with those that were not able to attend the workshops. The results of this survey were tabulated, dividing the responses into the four basic categories into which they tended to fall: policy influence, capacity building, project development, and synergies (though some responses could qualify under more than one category). (See Annex 7 for the results of the surveys, by institution).
Exchanges and Pilot Projects
GENES members repeatedly have emphasized the value of learning from one another by visiting field experiences. The workshops themselves provided brief field visits, which further underscored participants’ interest in visiting other members’ projects. The following priority exchanges were identified during the workshops through group discussions and less formal interactions among participants.
Table 3: Exchanges Identified by Participants
| Exchange sought by: | Focus of Exchange | Exchange with: |
|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica | 1. Lessons learned with improved stoves | 1. Nicaragua (TBD) |
| Panama | 1. Improved stoves, solar ovens | 1. Nicaragua (Proleña, Grupo Fenix); Costa |
| FUNPRODA, Fundación | 2. Biogas digesters | Rica (Casa del Sol) |
| PA.NA.M.A., CEMP, UTP, FIS | 2. Costa Rica (Asoc. Montaña Verde) | |
| Honduras | 1. Improved cooking techniques, stoves | 1. Nicaragua (TBD) |
| Ayuda en Acción | 2. Solar drying | 2. El Salvador (CORDES) |
| Compartir | ||
| Adesol | ||
| Nicaragua | 1. Application of gender methodologies to | 1. Costa Rica (Asoc. ANDAR) |
| UTN, CNE, Proleña, UNI, | energy-related development projects | |
| ESECA/UNAN, SOCODEL, | ||
| CIAB/BICU | ||
| El Salvador | 1. Solar water pumping for micro | 1. Mexico (Línea Biosfera) |
| Fundación CORDES | irrigation with women’s producer group | 2. El Salvador (CORDES) |
| Winrock/El Salvador | (CORDES) | |
| 2. Solar fruit drying (WI/ES) | ||
| Guatemala | 1. Solar fruit and wood drying | 1. El Salvador (CORDES) |
| Ak’ Tenamit | ||
| Mexico | 1. Solar fruit and wood drying | 1. El Salvador (CORDES) |
| Línea Biosfera | 2. Rural education centers | 2. Honduras (COHCIT, Adesol) |
| Unión de Uniones ARIC | 3. PV module assembly and improved | 3. Nicaragua (Grupo Fenix, Proleña) |
| SEDESOL | stoves | |
| Key decision makers | ||
| Users |
As can be noted from the table, participants have placed an emphasis on learning more about improved cooking techniques and efficient stove technologies. Most participants consider the health, socioeconomic and environmental impacts of dependence on fuelwood and its use in inefficient open fires as representing an ongoing, significant problem that hinders development in rural and peri-urban environments. Exposure through the video on the Antigua regional exchange to the experiences shared with a new generation of cooking innovations, as well as first-hand accounts from workshop participants, reinforced interest in hands-on experience and evaluation of specific innovations for the particular conditions and circumstances for each group.
The experiences shared in discussions by ANDAR-Costa Rica and in situ by Fundación CORDES (El Salvador) in solar drying of medicinal plants, fruit and wood, also drew great attention. Participants saw value in solar drying from a variety of angles, including for its ability to facilitate food security by lengthening the shelf-life of fruits; complement agroforestry initiatives by reducing production waste of fruits too voluminous to be transported to market; and spur micro-enterprises in value-added product directed at local, regional and international markets.
While the majority of regional exchanges focused on one or more specific technological innovations of interest, participants seeking to build experience in the application of gender methods tended toward local partnerships and collaborations with groups experienced in this area. Asociación ANDAR (Costa Rica) is one of the few organizations that have been working over several years in both gender approaches and sustainable energy. Though small in size, ANDAR can offer useful insights from its experiences working with men and women in agriculture and solar energy in its various forms. Línea Biosfera (Mexico) has built a similar trajectory and base of experience in combining gender-sensitive participatory methods for identifying priority community needs and formulating integrated development plans, including solar energy for water pumping and micro-irrigation. Fundación Solar (Guatemala) has more recently been working to address gender issues internally, as well as developing an initial set of gender-sensitive indicators for PV and household energy projects. The experiences of these GENES coordinator organizations provide valuable examples for the region.
Other groups, such as the Panamanian Center for Women (CEMP), the Center for Family Training (CEFA), and the Ministry of Youth, Women, Children and Family of Panama, are examples of both governmental and non-governmental institutions that have worked with gender concepts, from gender-sensitive policy to indicator development, that serve as valuable resources and potential collaborators for organizations lacking this experience. Among the useful synergies in Panama and likely other Central American countries is with organizations and individuals who have participated in the World Bank Gender Unit’s PROGENIAL program, which has worked around the region to develop sensitivity to gender equity within Bank projects in the region, including developing gender-sensitive impact indicators and monitoring plans to reduce gender differences that favor development and benefit all of society. Participants who have worked with PROGENIAL have developed valuable skills and can share insights on indicator and policy development. At the same time, their already gender-sensitized projects may be able to benefit from new knowledge of sustainable energy technologies and applications.
Pilot Project Proposals
A few of the collaborations spawned are highlighted in the proposals submitted following the workshops, seeking ESMAP support of specific pilot projects. Proposals for pilot projects were solicited for ESMAP support, following each workshop, with the following evaluation criteria:8
- Be complementary to a project in process or approved for implementation in 2002-2003.
- Be innovative in the integr