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Webinar addresses gender inequality in stakeholder consultations

15/10/19

Gender equality is vital for effective stakeholder consultations

Renewable energy professionals and gender equality consultants from across Africa tuned in for a live REPP webinar exploring gender issues in the stakeholder engagement process.

REPP believes that the meaningful participation of both women and men early on in a project’s planning process is central to understanding the different social and economic needs of individuals and stakeholder group, and that this is necessary for designing successful projects and maximising their impact.

But far too often this vital component of project development is being overlooked, and as a result society’s most marginalised groups are being inadequately represented.

To help address this imbalance, REPP hosted Friday’s (11 October) webinar to lay out best practice for ensuring an effective gender-sensitive stakeholder consultation that promotes evidence-based and participatory decision making to the benefit of all.

The webinar, Gender Considerations in Stakeholder Engagement Process, was targeted primarily at renewable energy developers in Africa, but also environmental consultants, relevant government institutions and NGOs actively working in the sector.

Its aim was to help participants improve their knowledge and awareness of this key area, and learn how to implement an effective consultation programme.

The one-hour session included three presentations from active gender equality experts in Africa:

  • Key elements of the stakeholder engagement process – by Santhuri Naicker, Impact Analyst at Camco Clean Energy (REPP’s manager)
  • What is gender mainstreaming? – by Virginie Le Masson, Research Associate (Gender Equality & Social Inclusion) at the Overseas Development Institute
  • Gender in stakeholder Engagement – by Natasha Ezekiel, an independent gender and social safeguards consultant at Kenya-based Rise Sustainability Consulting

The event concluded with a thought-provoking Q&A session during which attendees challenged the experts with general and context-specific questions about how to incorporate change in practice. 

In a post-event survey, the overwhelming majority (91%) of participants said they were very satisfied with the webinar, and that is developed their knowledge of the topic.

Missed the webinar? Don’t worry! Click here for links to a live recording of the session and downloadable presentations.