Gender equity in access to and benefits from modern energy and improved energy technologies : world development report background paper, 2012.
Clancy, Joy and Winther, Tanja and Matinga, Magi and Oparaocha, Sheila. University of Twente.
There are a number of gaps in the literature.
- Stove project evaluations in general miss gender analyses. This risks not identifying why stoves –which have obvious benefits of timesaving and reduced indoor air pollution– are either not taken up or are abandoned shortly after a project finishes.
- There appears to be a tendency to neglect men’s exposure to IAP due to assuming their absence from women’s space in the kitchen. It is a cause for concern since impacts on men’s health may go unrecognised and untreated.
- There are also no empirical there are no empirical studies on the impacts of modern energy or lack of it on the HIV/AIDS-infected population; and none specifically on the connections between gender, energy and major diseases such as malaria.
- There are very little empirical data comparable with that for IAP about the impacts on women’s health of daily carrying of heavy loads of biomass, which exceed ILO recommended safety standards, throughout their adult life. We consider that there is a need for epidemiological studies at a comparable level to that for IAP.
- Somewhat surprisingly, there is very little in the literature that evaluates the role of modern energy in income generation from a gender perspective. The focus has tended to be on women as entrepreneurs and the role of electricity in enterprise stimulation. The evaluation should be broadened to include men and other modern energy sources.
