Plan International activates energy inclusion for women in Senegal
Access to energy is an issue of global concern, but in Senegal, where 53.3% of the population lives in rural areas, the problem is even more acute, which is why Plan International has launched an energy inclusion program for vulnerable groups in the country.
In line with the policies of the Government of Senegal, the NGO has today laid the first stone of the DESFERS project in the village of Souda, in the Senegalese region of Ziguinchor, where they hope to accelerate access to energy, particularly for women and girls.
This initiative has the collaboration of the ACRA Foundation, the technical support of national agencies such as ANER, ASER and the Rural Electrification Agency of Senegal, as well as co-financing from OFID and the European Commission, through the Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) and the Women & Renewable Energy Program.
The inauguration of the first "mini green grids and multifunctional platforms" in Souda was attended by the European Union ambassador to Senegal, Irene Mingasson; the Senegalese Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Aissatou Sophie Gladima; the sub-regional director of Plan International Senegal, Bell'Aube Houinato and the general director of Plan International Spain, Concha López.
López explained to Efe that female leadership is present in the project since the women will be "responsible for its installation and maintenance", which will allow them to access entrepreneurship and employment to later invest the benefits "in their children, their families and the community".
"We now have the opportunity to move towards fairer and more egalitarian economies and societies (...). Spain and France have always been leaders in renewable energies, so this experience will allow us to share our knowledge with this community," said the general manager.
The NGO assures that in the rural areas of Senegal, Mali and Niger, countries where the DESFERS program is being developed, women are "the heart and the engine of the family economy" but that, due to the scarce education they receive and the barriers in the access to professional training, their development opportunities are very limited.
For this reason, the DESFERS project and other initiatives aim to "directly" transform the lives of 10,000 women through the use and marketing of photovoltaic products in these three countries, with a total of 36 photovoltaic networks in 600 communities.
The management and maintenance of the installations will be in the hands of small local operators, who will be responsible for 20 % of the initial cost.
In addition, it is planned to facilitate access to microcredits for more than 4,500 women, so that they can start their own businesses based on photovoltaic energy; the arrival of electric energy in these communities may favor the emergence of businesses such as cold water stalls, battery and cell phone charging points or some food outlets.
The coordinator of the DESFERS project of Plan International Spain, Matteo Brigantti, has assured that these microcredits will be directed to 1,500 women entrepreneurs in Senegal, to take advantage of the "unique opportunity" to develop their productive activities thanks to renewable energy, a fundamental instrument in the mechanization of work.
So far, half of the entire project has been implemented, and the results are already being felt: "women in the areas where training activities have been carried out have taken on a role of reference with the entire population," confirmed Brigantti.
Plan International Spain has been carrying out renewable energy projects linked to development and humanitarian aid since 2013, as a case of success they have the experience in the town of Gorou (Niger), a rural community of 107 homes, where the first photovoltaic network in the country was installed.
