Spotlight | drinking water and livelihoods. Some of these


women were later elected to the local village council and became part of the broader local governance they were traditionally excluded from, while their local protests led to national-level policy changes and even Balkans-wide debates on sustainable approaches to small hydro development. There are also many employment opportunities for women in the small hydro sector. In Zambia, the Zengamina hydropower company created 400 local jobs during construction, 40%vof which were taken up by women. In the remote mountain regions of south-western China, a group of 95 small hydro projects called the Huóshuu˘ SHP provide direct employment to 240 women, representing 30% of the workforce. Small hydro development can also create indirect jobs that are stimulated by the arrival of electricity in a community. In Pakistan’s Peshawar Valley, AKRSP’s hydropower plants have powered gemstone processing companies that have employed women who previously had no job opportunities. In Kenya and Malawi, women have been employed in hair salons, bakeries and other businesses enabled by electricity from SHP. In addition, when the time women spend on chores is reduced due to electricity, the hours gained can be used for studying, engaging in income generation and community activities, which can close gender gaps in education and associated opportunities in economic and political power. After a 100kW micro-hydropower plant was constructed in Senghor, Bhutan, all homes obtained rice cookers and half of them curry cookers and water heaters through the United Nations Development Programme. This enabled mostly women and girls to use the gained time for studying, socialising, and entertainment. Other examples showing the positive impacts of using small hydro to electrify households are given in Pakistan, the Dominican Republic, and Nepal.


References


The 2022 edition of The World Small Hydropower Development Report can be downloaded at www.unido.org/WSHPDR2022


In addition, improvements in women’s health and education were well-illustrated in a Nepalese study where 24 micro-hydropower plants powered 84 schools, 40 hospitals/health clinics and nine community centres. The powering of clinics can be critical for women’s health, improving chances of a safe birth, even when the electricity is used for something as basic as lighting but more so when it powers equipment. There is also emerging evidence that when electricity at home frees the time women and girls


16 | November 2023 | www.waterpowermagazine.com


spend on household chores, their study time and enrolment in schooling or adult classes can increase. In Nepal’s Pinthali village, older women who had previously missed out on education reported that micro-hydropower enabled them to study at night and they gained literacy and numeracy skills, which improved their understanding of business transactions and reduced the chances of customers cheating them. In Zambia, the Zengamina SHP plant connected at least five schools to electricity, while in Malawi, the MEGA hydropower plant has electrified ten schools, enabling improved services. This has reportedly increased the number of female teachers in the electrified communities and improved students’ performance, especially girls who have extra study time using electric light in the evenings. Access to electricity can even go further and challenge narratives and change gender roles. In Mahadevsthan, Nepal, when micro-hydropower was installed, households obtained access to television and mobile phones which gave access to different gender narratives and worldviews. This meant women could see other women in non-traditional roles on television programmes, which in some cases changed their minds about their career options, with older women reportedly wanting their daughters to receive a good education and have careers such as the ones they saw on television. The advent of micro-hydropower in Gundruk, Nepal, enabled 88% of households to obtain TVs or radios, which reportedly made women realise that they “don’t have to remain second-class citizens”. In addition the popularity of mobile phones increased after electrification over in Mahadevsthan, allowing young women and men to negotiate their relationships as opposed to the regional traditions of parents arranging them. In this way, young women gained some level of change and increased control over a critical part of their lives. WSHDR2022 goes on to explain that when women work on small hydro developments or operations, it can change communities’ perceptions of their abilities. The professional women who took part in research for the report and who worked in male- dominated positions in SHP, reported that their positions there changed narratives and perceptions, among both women and men, about female capabilities. Looking to the future, WSHDR2022 recommends that the business case for gender in SHP should be showcased and should look beyond economics, while it is also important to get the buy-in and support of leadership, most of whom are men, and there needs to be increased engagement with women’s groups to enhance their participation in consultations and planning. Innovative strategies, including targeted subsidies, will be required to connect to the poorest households and supportive spaces for women need to be created to attract and retain female talent. Furthermore, capacity building and skills enhancement for women need to be funded and supported, and gender-responsive governance needs to be enforced to safeguard and improve women’s livelihoods. While in order to unlock access for poor women, female-headed households and other excluded groups, the administrative burdens of connecting to electricity need to be eased.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45