SAWIE Empowers Women & Youth: Clean Energy Transition

On 12 and 13 January 2021, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in collaboration with the Vienna Energy Forum (VEF) partners, the Global Women Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET) and the SDG7 Youth Constituency (SDG7 YC), convened an expert dialogue, where SAWIE was invited by UNIDO. Based on the inputs from experts and representatives from governments, development cooperation agencies, donors, academia, the private sector and civil society, actionable items on how the leadership of women and youth could be central to the achievement of the clean energy transition and the advancement of sustainable development, was developed. SAWIE has been a vital stakeholder in urging the partners to take urgent action to ensure that the transition is not only fair and equally accessible to all women and men, girls and boys, but is also such that it provides equal opportunity for women and youth to take the lead and to become agents of change.

As one of only platforms aimed to increase representation of women at the leadership levels in the energy, industrial and manufacturing sector thereby enabling diversity in decision-making, SAWIE brings the unique angle of bridging the gender gap. Through the ‘Call to Action’ platform, SAWIE with other like-minded partners continues to work on building mentorship, entrepreneurship, leadership and networking programs. SAWIE continues to build on its knowledge and resource pool, on ‘Best Practices in Gender Mainstreaming’ and share it with the wider network; build a repository of Opportunities for the SAWIE Community such that women in the energy, industrial and manufacturing sectors have easy access to such multiple opportunities that they can choose from and rise.