Transforming the Future of Women and Youth in Sustainable Energy: A Collaboration Between UNIDO, GN-SEC, and GWNET

The Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC), hosted by The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has established a Gender and Youth Focal Point Network to foster gender equality and intergenerational equity, as well as the empowerment of women and youth through the work of the regional centres. This Network connects Gender and Youth Focal Points from all eight operating centres, allowing for south-south and triangular knowledge exchange, peer-to-peer learning, and capacity building activities.

To enhance the ability of Gender and Youth Focal Points to effectively integrate gender and youth perspectives into the work of the centres and strengthen activities focused on women’s and youth empowerment, GN-SEC partnered with the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET) to launch a specialized mentoring programme. This programme provided bilateral mentorship to 20 mentees and included a virtual course with guest speakers from UNIDO and the SDG7 Youth Constituency. The course covered the following modules:

Module 1: Women in Sustainable Energy

Module 2: Empowering Youth

Module 3: How to Integrate Gender and Youth Aspects into Energy Policy

Module 4: How to Effectively Mainstream Gender and Youth Issues in Projects and Programmes

Module 5: Promoting Male Allyship & Gender- and Youth-Responsive Advocacy

Participants provided the following feedback on their participation:

The mentoring program has been a safe space to share, learn, and reflect on my career in the renewable energy field as a woman and as a youth.

I have learned that my potential knows no bounds. I am a force to be reckoned with, armed with knowledge, resilience, and unwavering determination.

My participation in the GN-SEC GWNET women and youth empowerment mentoring programme has enabled me to better understand the key role women and youth have in Energy projects implementation.

Girls are capable of doing everything that men are doing but we may have more imagination in the field than men.

Participating in the mentoring program has been a transformative journey, empowering me with knowledge, skills, and connections to make a meaningful difference in women and youth empowerment. 

Furthermore, building upon the Centres’ work in the area of women and youth empowerment, a Guide on Good Practices for Gender Mainstreaming & Youth Engagement in Regional Sustainable Energy Centres was developed and is currently being finalized, containing various links to relevant studies and case studies.

UNIDO and GWNET will continue to work together to advance women and youth empowerment through the GN-SEC.

About GN-SEC

Today, the GN-SEC network comprises eight operating centres in the Arab and African region (ECOWAS, SADC, EAC, Arab League), Asia and Pacific (SPC, ICIMOD), as well as Latin America (CARICOM, SICA). Currently, the network is expanding to Central Africa (ECCAS) and Central Asia (ECO). The centres have approval by more than 108 Ministers of Energy and/or Heads of State and serves 38 of 46 least developed countries (LDCs) and 32 of 36 small island developing states (SIDS). Further background information on the GN-SEC is available here. 

About GWNET

The Global Women's Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET) aims to advance the global energy transition by empowering women in energy through interdisciplinary networking, advocacy, training, and mentoring. GWNET is a membership-based non-profit organisation with over 4.500 members from 150+ countries and numerous partnerships with various international organisations such as UNIDO and regional/national women in energy networks.  Further background information on GWNET’s work is available here.