Happy International Women’s Day!
Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) is committed to helping the world achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 – affordable and clean energy for all. But our work also contributes to the global push on Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality.
A just and equitable energy transition must involve and empower women as full participants and decision-makers, as well as support economic empowerment and decent job opportunities for women in the growing sustainable energy sector. This is why we have a Gender and Youth programme that aims to expand professional and leadership opportunities for women in the sustainable energy workforce and supports and champions the next generation of women leaders to lead national just and equitable energy transitions.
Our Women in STEM Training programme, the Women in Clean Cooking mentorship programme, and Open Africa Power are just a few examples of capacity building efforts we’ve led or partnered in to help more than 330 women build successful careers in the sustainable energy sector over the past three years.
SEforALL also mainstreams gender across all our programmes, ensuring that our in-country support and advocacy helps advance women’s inclusion and advancement as part of energy access and transition planning. And we support women entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses through our results-based Universal Energy Facility.
Rather than focusing on one day for International Women’s Day, we’ve created a month-long, online campaign to provide a platform for the women we’ve supported, and to advocate for women’s empowerment to achieve a just and energy transition.
We encourage you to follow our “Women’s Month” campaign and help spread the word globally through our content. We’ll be updating the campaign with new stories, images, and videos throughout the month, so we encourage you to check out the above link every few days and follow us on SEforALL’s social media platforms to see what’s new.
SEforALL acknowledges with gratitude the financial assistance provided to our Gender and Youth work by the governments of Austria, Iceland and Italy, and our core funders the IKEA Foundation, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, Lemelson Foundation and the Government of Iceland.
International Women’s Day was created to celebrate women’s achievements and to push for gender equity, which at our current rate of progress is still more than 130 years away. It falls on March 8th, and the United Nation theme for 2024 is “Invest in women: Accelerate progress.”
A holiday is nice, but real action steps are vital for driving equity. “Real progress necessitates moving beyond superficial gestures like cupcake distributions, banner decorations, and themed poses towards making substantial, long-term investments,” says Hira Ali, CEO of Advancing Your Potential and author of Her Allies: A Practical Toolkit To Help Men Lead Through Advocacy. “Women are increasingly frustrated, demanding more than just an annual celebration. This year, the UN Women’s theme emphasizes investing in women for accelerated progress.”
Financial empowerment is linked to gender equity because it gives people who identify as women the ability to control their future across different aspects of their lives. It’s also good for the GDP: Closing gender gaps in employment, for example, would lead to a 20% boost in GDP per capita. A large part of gender inequities are related to the fact that women have faced greater barriers than men when it comes to accumulating wealth.
If you’re looking to drive more meaningful and sustainable change on International Women’s Day and every day, here are just a few ways to get started.
Invest In Closing the Gender And Racial Wage Gap For Good
The gender and racial wage gap can cost women up to $1 million over the course of a 40-year career. The motherhood penalty means that mothers’ wages decrease an average of 4% for each child they have, while fathers’ wages increase 6% for each child. (Gender norms and stereotypes linked to expectations that women be the primary caregivers also impacts the number of women in the workforce and the economy at large). Closing the wage gap could help boost the world’s economy by $7 trillion.
