Launching the 1st Women in Energy Program for Central and West Asia
Vision and Scope
The Program is focused on women’s employment and the potential for employment and leadership in the sector, broadly defined. This is interpreted to include (i) quality employment opportunities from entry level to executive management; (ii) women’s full engagement in policy making, oversight and decisions in creating functioning energy systems; and (iii) advancing education opportunities for girls and women in the STEM and other relevant fields for a career in the energy sector. The overall intended impact is to break through gender-based stereotypes in education, training and employment in the sector, close gender pay gaps and promote women’s leadership across the sector. As women are often segregated into jobs with low pay, low security and limited social mobility, the rise of new jobs as part of the greening of economies offers a timely window of opportunity to fundamentally change
this bias.
Women in Energy Work Program 2030
The Program will include activities in four focus areas:
Focus
Area
Focus Area 1:
Increase employability of women in the energy sector
Target
Activities
Indicative Time
Frame
Provide capacity building for resume writing and job interview preparation to female graduates seeking to enter the sector
from 2024
Organize secondments and/or short-term assignments for women to international energy companies or other organizations
from 2025
Focus Area 2:
Boost women’s education in key fields for the energy sector
Provide scholarships for trainings and certifications at regional and/or international centers of excellence
from 2025
Facilitate partnerships between industry and academic institutions to advance girls and women in energy-related fields of study
from 2024
Establish student chapters at high school level to incentivize the next generation of students to transition to the clean energy sector
from 2024
Focus Area 3:
Support visibility of CAREC women regionally and internationally
Organize regular regional Women-in-Energy Summits to promote discourse and networking
from 2022
Support women’s visibility in the sector through individual and corporate memberships in existing international women-in-energy networks and alumni networks
from 2022
Maintain data base of Central and West Asian women presenters interested to participate in regional and international energy fora
from 2022
Focus Area 4:
Enhance organizational capacity in designing gender friendly policies and workplaces
Provide guidelines on Equal-by-30 principles, and templates of best practices in HR policies for State Owned Enterprises, Ministries and private energy companies to recruit, retain and promote women through their professional careers
from 2024
Provide examples of flexible working arrangements that enable women and men to balance work-life responsibilities in the energy sector
from 2024
Introduce companies to the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP), and recognize those institutions that secure WEP certification in the energy sector
from 2024