Centro de Documentación OLADE -

Informe realizado en el marco de la Smart Villages Initiative.

Through this report the Smart Villages Initi¬ative aims to increase the awareness of policy makers and other stakeholders of the gender issues associated with energy access in rural areas. Energy solutions that are deployed should be more sensitive to the real and specific needs of both women and men, and the benefits of energy provision can be fully realized by both genders. To achieve these outcomes, women need to be viewed as agents of change as well as benefi¬ciaries. ‘Women as agents of change’ is an issue that will be explored in the context of entrepre¬neurship, as well as education and health, later in the report. Due to gender norms, women are often left out of household decision-mak¬ing and their degree of choice about the kind of lives they lead is constrained. Facilitating women to have more agency (expanding their degree of choice) and bargaining power within the home and in the community is key for energy to contribute to gender equality.