Government of Nepal
Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation

Alternative Energy Promotion Centre

Making Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Mainstream Supply in Nepal
Gender Equality & Social Inclusion

Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) has institutionalized Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) by setting up separate GESI Section with the purpose to improve living standard of rural women and men, increase employment of women and men as well as productivity, reduce dependency on traditional energy and attain sustainable development through integrating the alternative/renewable energy with the socio-economic activities of women and men, and socially excluded groups in the rural communities.

The guiding documents to mainstream GESI in policy, program, and project implemented by AEPC are as follows;

- GESI Policy of AEPC

- GESI Mainstreaming Plan (to mainstream GESI in institutional and programme level)

- Social Mobilization Guideline

- GESI Audit Guideline

- GESI Responsive Code of Conduct

- GESI Toolbox

GESI Section has adopted different strategies to ensure GESI mainstreaming at all levels of the program from the policy making to program planning, and service delivery to the beneficiaries. Some of the approaches taken to mainstream GESI while developing and promoting Renewable Energy Technology (RET) are as follows;

  • - Affirmative action and positive discrimination to the targeted groups (Provision additional Subsidy)

  • - Work with likeminded and right holders organizations to extend access of RET service to targeted communities.

  • - Coordinate and collaborate with line agencies, social leaders and media to aware women & men and people in exclusion about RET.

  •  - GESI capacity building of the stakeholders and partners at all levels.

  • - Create platform for GESI responsive RET knowledge building, sharing and Piloting action research adopting right based approach to reach poor women and men, and women belonging to janjati, dalit, madhesi, muslim and other backward communities (OBCs).

  • - Recognize women’s involvement and their right to appropriate remuneration as per government norms in energy projects and programmes.

  • - Develop affordable options to offset the high upfront cost of RETs for women, men and disadvantaged groups.

  • - Design delivery models that enhance access to energy to unreached and un-served areas and groups, including poor men and women.

  • - Ensure that energy service delivery and information service reach equally to women, men and people of different caste and ethnicities.

  • - Involve women and disadvantaged groups in technical aspects of energy projects, and encourage their participation in energy infrastructure management.

  • - Explicitly consult and engage women and disadvantaged groups effectively in all phases of the project cycle.

  • - Strengthen the capability to influence decisions and ensure participation of women and marginalized groups in energy plans, programmes and decision making.

  • - Promote women and people of socially excluded groups as service providers in renewable energy sector by providing additional support or creating enabling environment.

  • - Revise the policy and regulatory framework and institutional mechanisms of the renewable energy sector to address more explicitly the issues of women, poor and the excluded.

  • - Set a target for increasing staff diversity with representation of women and people of excluded social groups in different positions of decision making in AEPC and ensure a gender and inclusion sensitive working environment for them.

The GESI mainstreaming activities are intended to work in three broader areas such as product, service and institution, in a way that all the RET services delivered to the targeted people as their needs and demand in a responsive way. The operational framework for GESI mainstreaming is as follows: