About the project
Full title: Lighting the Path towards Gender Equality: The Impact of Solar Electrification on Women in India
Approximately two billion people in the world are without access to electricity for light and power. The consequences of being deprived of sustainable and proper energy solutions are serious health problems, constraints on education and inability to do income-generating activities. Due to international concerns of growing economic inequality and climate change, introduction of renewable energy has become increasingly popular in rural development projects in the South.
Energy is often assumed to be a purely technical and gender neutral issue. However, women are often the most affected by lack of modern energy solutions, due to their role as user of most energy sources for the household, agriculture and small industrial subsectors. In addition the introduction of new energy solutions has different gendered consequences in terms of access and decision-making at household, community and national level. The purpose of this project is to identify factors promoting or inhibiting the achievement of gender equality in rural solar electrification projects, and explore such projects’ impact on women’s social empowerment, political participation, (gendered) poverty, mother and child health in villages in Uttar Pradesh og Jharkhand.
Duration: August 2010 – August 2016.
Financing
- MILEN – Environmental Change and Sustainable Energy
- Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM).
Cooperation
- The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), New Delhi, India.