In 2021, about 2.3 billion people worldwide lack access to clean cooking. The use of inefficient, polluting fuels and technologies is a health risk and a major contributor to diseases and deaths, particularly for women and children in low- and middle-income countries.1 For these reasons, gender mainstreaming is an essential organizing principle for reducing inequity and achieving universal access to clean energy.2 Gender mainstreaming has many specific definitions but the core principle is simple: a gender equality perspective at all stages and levels of policies, programs, and projects.3
Access to clean energy in urban informal settlements is a considerable challenge in many cities. An informal settlement is one where inhabitants have no security of tenure (they are “squatters” or informal renters); it lacks or is cut off from basic services such as clean water, sewers, paved roads, and electricity; and the housing may not comply with current planning and building regulations.4 The absence of reliable electricity is a formidable barrier to good health and poverty reduction. Without reliable electricity, for example, students struggle to study at night, workers struggle to perform their jobs (especially informal occupations characteristic of these settlements), and everyone faces personal safety threats from streets and public spaces that are not illuminated at night.5
A recent case study posed the following question: How do energy companies operating in informal urban settlements in sub-Saharan Africa integrate gender mainstreaming into their practices, and what design processes, methods, and tools do they use?6
Interviews were conducted with 15 private companies in 8 countries that ranged from small enterprises with just 3 employees to large enterprises with over 500 employees. These companies focus on solutions to domestic energy needs (cooking, lighting, water heating, refrigeration, space cooling, space heating, washing, tool powering) and productive use of energy to support small entrepreneurship. The interview questions were defined to collect: 1) gender considerations in the design of energy solutions for informal urban settlements; 2) methods and expertise involved in the design of energy solutions; and 3) specifics of designing for informal urban areas.
The survey results indicate that companies perceive the growing importance of integrating gender mainstreaming requirements into their activities, in part due to pressure from funders and external partners. Most of the companies have done fieldwork to collect information for gender-responsive interventions. Companies in the clean cooking sector are more gender-focused than their counterparts in other sectors and often work towards empowering women as the main users of cooking solutions.6
However, the survey revealed that gender mainstreaming in energy projects in informal urban settlements is still very fragmented among private companies. There is a general absence of organizational capacity to define and execute gender-specific methods, such as gender action planning, gender category definition, and gender-responsive budgeting. Similarly, there is minimal use of existing toolkits, handbooks, and manuals that support gender mainstreaming in energy projects.
The researchers who conducted the survey concluded that the gap in gender mainstreaming practice shows the absence of all-inclusive support for companies that aim to mainstream gender in the design of energy solutions. Companies need better dissemination of existing supports and capacity building for integrating these supports into company practices. Policymakers can contribute by ensuring that women and low-income households are included in the decision-making process and by supporting energy companies in developing gendered energy innovations.6
1 World Health Organization, “WHO publishes new global data on the use of clean and polluting fuels for cooking by fuel type, January 2022, Link
2 S. Dutta, A. Kooijman, E. Cecelski, Energy Access and Gender: Getting the Right Balance. SEAR Special Feature, World Bank, Washington D.C, 2017, Link
3 Council of Europe, “What is gender mainstreaming?” accessed December 27, 2023, https://www.coe.int/en/web/genderequality/what-is-gender-mainstreaming
4 United Nations, “Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III,” Issue Paper No. 22 on Informal Settlements; UN-Habitat (2015), Slum Almanac 2015-2016, Link
5 Mensah, James and Eugénie Birc, “Powering the Slum: Meeting SDG7 in Accra’s Informal Settlements,” Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, April 2021, Link
6 Ceschin, Fabrizio, Aine Petrulaityte, Josephine Kaviti Musango, and Betty Karimi Mwiti. “Mainstreaming Gender in Energy Design Practice: Insights from Companies Operating in Sub-Saharan Africa’s Energy Sector.” Energy Research & Social Science 96 (February 1, 2023): 102929. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102929.