COP 22- Bangladesh- Energy: Women are game-changers in promoting access to clean energy

  COP 22- Bangladesh- Energy: Women are game-changers in promoting access to clean energy   A group of Tanzanians visited Bangladesh a few weeks  ago to learn about renewable energy initiatives in this country with the aim  to help Tanzania  “achieving 100 percent use of renewable energy”. The Tanzania delegation comprised representatives from the Parliament, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral resources, the civil society and the media.   Report by Deodatus Mfugale Dhaka, Bangladesh Rural women training Modhukhali village in Bangladesh-  Here is Shahana Begama in a classroom, speaking to 20 women. The women are listening deeply. On a table, one can see various components: a solar system, a bulb, a solar panel, a control panel, battery…These tools are used by Mrs Begama during a training. Today, she explains how to use the  Solar Home System ( SHS), a cheap and a simple solar equipment. It provides electricity to poor family. The aim of the training is to assure families that they can have access to energy easily  . The training programme helps also families to used  solar systems. It creates a positive social force in the village as it promotes renewable energies technologies. “By implementing this programme, those women who come from poor, disadvantaged families will be able to contribute to the family income, especially  improving the education and health  of their  their children,” explained Dipal Chandra Barua, Chairman and Founder of GGEF. Over 400 women in rural Bangladesh have been trained in servicing solar systems installed in their homes since 2010. This is thanks to the Bright Green Energy Foundation (BGEF) which strives to provide access to clean energy to poor families in the rural areas. By December last year (2015), four million solar homes systems had been installed while almost 50,000 SHS are being installed in rural homes every month. Women Empowerment Besides repairing and maintaining their own Solar Home System, the women also provide maintenance services to other community members and train other rural women to become “green technicians, according to Mr Barua. “Some women technicians assemble and repair solar accessories: they can earn more than Tk6000 (approximately USD 76) per month. This is not a very big amount of money but it helps rural families to meet their needs,” he said. “We have taken the assembling and repairing of solar accessories to the rural areas at the users’ doorstep and created ‘green’ jobs for rural women while promoting women entrepreneurs of the future,” he added. Strategy Building capacity and helping people having access to energy is really needed and helpful said  trainees. “My children can now study and do their homework at home...