About Us

Overview:

The Women in Energy Network Africa (WEN-Africa is a regional initiative aimed at strengthening women’s employment in the energy sector in the countries of African region. This is with a specific focus on increasing the number of women in technical and leadership roles. It spans ten countries, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Our focus is on promoting gender equality and women's empowerment in collaboration with energy sector stakeholders. We facilitate interdisciplinary advocacy, policy dialogue, capacity development, research, and analytics.

History:

WEN-Africa emerged in response to gender disparities in the energy sector. Despite the sector's opportunities for women's empowerment, women constitute only 16% of the global labor force, with even lower representation in East Africa. WEN-Africa is committed to closing the gender gap and contributing to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 5 and 7.

Vision:

WEN-Africa envisions a society where women and men are equal and enjoy equitable opportunities and benefits in the energy sector, including fostering a life without violence.

The mission of WEN-Africa is to promote women in the energy and power sector across African countries. Initially, it starts from East African ten countries: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Objective

The objective of WEN-Africa is to increase female Employment in the African Energy Sector, through

• increasing the number of women professionals in power utilities and power sector companies,
• increasing the number of women technical professionals in power utilities and power sector companies and
• increasing the number of women in managerial positions in power utilities and power sector companies.

Values:

• Gender Equity and Equality: We promote gender equity principles within and beyond the network.
• Promotion of STEM Education: Advocating strategic actions encouraging women and girls to participate in STEM education.
• Solidarity: Believing in the power of collective support, championing, and investing to create a united force for gender equality.
• Diversity and Inclusiveness: Ensuring diversity and inclusiveness across various dimensions, fostering rich diversity among network actors.

WEN-Africa recognizes women's crucial roles as energy consumers, beneficiaries, professionals and contributors to the energy sector. Promotion of gender equality in the energy sector is aligned with the World Bank Group Gender Strategy (2024-2030), which puts forward the bold ambition to accelerate gender equality for a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive future. The Strategy responds to the global urgency, fundamentality, and complexity of achieving gender equality. It has three strategic objectives (i) end Gender-based Violence & Elevate Human Capital (ii) expand and Enable Economic Opportunities and (iii) engage Women as Leaders. We empower women by setting this platform to exchange information and share experiences as well as providing training and support for independent operation and construction of sustainable renewable energy technologies. Facilitating women equitable participation in the energy sector through advocacy, networking, policy dialogue and research, WEN-Africa consistently work to close the gender gap. The establishment of the WEN-Africa regional network aims to create an active women's network at both national and regional levels, contributing to closing the gender gap and strengthening women's participation in the energy value chain.