Engendering Utilities Newsletter | December 2019

Engendering Utilities is Growing...and Flowing USAID's Engendering Utilities is advancing its vision of expanding gender equality and women’s economic empowerment by partnering with more energy utilities and opening the door to a whole new sector: WATER.

Earlier this year, USAID’s Engendering Utilities program welcomed nine new partner organizations committed to improving gender equality in their businesses, as well as within the energy sector in their countries.  Now, Engendering Utilities looks to add as many as 12 new utility partners by January 2020, including approximately three water sector utilities , where fewer than one in five workers are women. As with the energy sector, workplace biases, reinforced by cultural stereotypes, continue to ensure that water utility jobs overwhelmingly belong to men.  USAID’s Engendering Utilities program is taking steps to change this paradigm in both sectors. The program’s unique approach will open the door for energy and water utilities to enhance gender equality and their bottom line by empowering women in their workforce. Learn more

CHANGEMAKERS IN ACTION: EVN MACEDONIA LEADS BY EXAMPLE

TURNING LESSONS LEARNED  INTO A PLATFORM FOR CHANGE Graduates of Engendering Utilities’ Gender Equity Executive Leadership Program (GEELP) from partner utility EVN in North Macedonia took action to extend the program’s reach beyond their own utility. In 2016, they created the Women in INdustry (WIN) Conference, which welcomed over 200 participants at its annual event in October 2019. Sixteen speakers, including U.S. Ambassador Kate Byrnes (pictured above), addressed unconscious bias, measuring the status quo, progress of gender diversity, and more.  Learn more MAKING THE BUSINESS CASE  FOR GENDER EQUALITY Stefan Peter, CEO of EVN, embraced the Engendering Utilities platform as a utility partner in the program’s first cohort, a decision that has positively impacted the company on multiple levels. In this interview, Mr. Peter speaks candidly about the changes he and his team are driving to make gender equality a critical component of the company’s business practices, and the role he plays in amplifying the Engendering Utilities message.  Read the interview

PARTICIPANT SPOTLIGHT Grace Karuiru "It’s not about muscles.” GEELP graduate Grace Karuiru of partner utility Kenya Power received high praise in Kenya’s Star Reporter newspaper in August. One of only four female employees when she joined the Kenya Power team, Grace is passionate about her work, defying the odds to excel in engineering. Read the article

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT EDESUR IS ENGAGING MEN TO TAKE A STAND FOR EQUALITY The Engendering Utilities team from our partner utility in the Dominican Republic, EDESUR, held its first male engagement session in October. Influential male leaders from the organization discussed gender equity and unconscious bias, and agreed to become ambassadors of equal opportunity for women by continuing the dialogue and promoting gender equity principles within their utility and their country.

NEWS FROM THE FIELD

TPDDL (India) : Recognized among the top 75 workplaces for women in 2019 by Great Places to Work. Seventeen new women employees joined the utility in Q4. LEC (Liberia) : Thirty men within the utility signed a resolution to make a monthly salary deduction of $5 to support the Female Workers Association of LEC. BPRL (India) : Adopted paternity leave and flex-time policies, and drafted a policy on prevention of sexual harassment. IDECO (Jordan) : Conducted technical training on solar PV installation, business development, and artificial intelligence (AI) topics for 23 women. IBEDC (Nigeria) : Initiated preparation for the Discussing Issues Surrounding Career Opportunities (DISCO) Conference, which will focus on women’s empowerment. EDCO (Jordan) : Hired six new female employees, including two engineers, and organized mentoring for 111 female employees.   ENERGO-PRO (Georgia) : Visited 45 schools to meet female pupils and explain there are no “male” or “female” professions at the utility. EDM (Mozambique) : Trained 93 women on leadership, revenue protection, client services, and English.

USAID.GOV/ENERGY/ENGENDERING-UTILITIES