ECOWAS meeting to validate the regional directive on gender and energy

From 26 to 28 June 2017, representatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will meet in Accra, Ghana, at the Kempinski Hotel, to review and deliberate on the draft Directive on gender assessment in energy projects, at a regional workshop organized by the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE).

The Directive establishes the legal framework for the ECOWAS Policy for Gender Mainstreaming in Energy Access, which was adopted by the ECOWAS Heads of State in Monrovia, the Republic of Liberia, on 4 June 2017. Building on the goals of the Policy, which is to address existing barriers that may hinder the equal participation of women and men in expanding energy access in West Africa, the Directive’s objectives are to:

1. ensure that the specific interests of women and men, as stakeholders, are taken into account in the development of projects;
2. ensure that any potential adverse and discriminatory impacts on women or men deriving from projects are recognized and avoided or mitigated to the extent feasible;
3. improve transparency in planning and implementation processes to promote and increase the participation and capacity of women and men, including but not limited to customers, employees, managers, investors, officials and other stakeholders; and
4. encourage the development of harmonized policy and legal regulatory frameworks in each Member State and for ECOWAS institutions that are consistent with the principles of, and achieve the objectives of, this Directive, whilst imposing the least financial and bureaucratic barriers possible on Developers, Competent Authorities and other stakeholders.

Organised in partnership with the ECOWAS Department of Gender and Social Affairs, the West African Power Pool (WAPP), the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA), the West African Gas Pipeline Authority (WAPGA) and the ECOWAS Infrastructure Projects Preparation and Development Unit (PPDU), the workshop will bring together:

• The Directors of Energy and the Ministries’ representatives on the ECOW-GEN Technical Advisory Group (TAG);
• Representatives of Energy Regulatory Agencies in the ECOWAS Member States
• Representatives of relevant ECOWAS institutions;
• Civil Society Organizations;
• Energy project developers;
• Academia and research institutions;
• Development partners; and
• Representatives of other relevant stakeholder institutions.

Furthermore, the 3- day workshop will feature:

• Training sessions on regulating gender assessments in the energy sector;
• Technical sessions to present and discuss the findings from the Background Study report on “Developing a Legal Instrument for Gender Assessment in Energy Infrastructure Planning and Development within ECOWAS”
• Technical sessions to present and review the draft ECOWAS Directive for Gender Assessment in Energy Projects as well as the Model Regulation that will guide implementation at the Member State Level.The expected outcome of the Workshop is the validation of the ECOWAS Directive for Gender Assessment in Energy Projects, at the ECOWAS Energy Ministries’ technical/operational level.

The workshop is supported by the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC), the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), PowerAfrica/USAID and the Clean Energy Solutions Centre (CESC) of the U.S National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Workshop Contact Person

Ms. Monica Maduekwe

Coordinator – ECOWAS Programme on Gender Mainstreaming in Energy Access (ECOW-GEN)

Email: mmaduekwe@ecreee.org

Phone: +238 9809689