Ex-minister pushes for women in energy sector
THE participation of women in the energy sector is relatively new in the Pacific region, according to former Minister for Women, Children, and Poverty Alleviation, Mereseini Rakuita.
Ms Rakuita is now the Principal Strategic Lead for Pacific Women at the Pacific Community (SPC).
“PEGI is a conversation that recognises the importance of women and girls’ agencies and voices around what has always been traditionally maledominated,” she said at the launch of the Pacific Energy and Gender Initiative (PEGI) project yesterday at the SPC head office in Suva.
She highlighted the work SPC has been doing in the energy sector and how the new funding from the US government would greatly benefit their work.
“They’ve invested in SPC because of the work that we’ve been doing in the energy sector generally; this is now an attempt to more effectively target the inclusion of more women and girls.
“This is an investment that is truly appreciated by the organisation, but more importantly, by the impact, it will have on the lives of Pacific women and girls on the ground.”
She also commended the efforts of the Ministry of Women, Children, and Social Protection to launch a country-wide gender assessment to investigate the gaps in male-dominated fields.
“For Fiji, we have the gender assessment, which was launched last year, which has been identifying the critical gaps that exist in different sectors in Fiji and giving policy recommendations for government and stakeholders on what to do to close these gaps.”