Education

Citation:

Gebregiorgis, Gebrecherkos. 2015. “Engendering Energy in Ethiopia: The Role of Solar Energy in Improving Rural Women’s Socio-Economic Conditions in Tigrai Region.” International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology 7 (1): 8–20.

Author: Gebrecherkos Gebregiorgis

Abstract:

This study was conducted on the role of solar energy in improving the socio-economic conditions of women in Tigrai region, Ethiopia. The specific objectives of the study were to assess the extent of solar energy use, to examine the role of solar energy in promoting women’s income earning strategies and access to social services; to document the perceptions and attitudes of women beneficiaries towards solar energy interventions and assess the challenges and prospects. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods (mainly surveys and ethnography). Primary data were gathered from different sources including beneficiary women household heads, local residents and pertinent administrative bodies. The specific tools for primary data collection include household questionnaires, semi-structured interviews with key informants, focus group discussions, and in-depth interviewing. The study also made use of secondary data obtained from reports and various documents. Primary data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including tables, charts and percentages using appropriate software. Qualitative data were presented in narrative descriptions while the results of the case studies were presented in the form of illustrative boxes to substantiate and consolidate major quantitative findings. The findings of the study indicate a substantial shift from biomass use to photovoltaic(PV) electricity which has improved women’s access to income and social services: shops and cinema houses flourished; radio and TV sets could be used to obtain information; schools and health posts gave better services and the time and energy women spent fulfilling their traditional roles such as cooking was reduced allowing them to actively participate in development activities like soil and water conservation. Major constraints and challenges identified were mainly related to sustainability: problems associated with maintenance, inaccessibility of spare parts, lack of technical skill to operate the systems, lack of follow-ups from concerned bodies as well as financial constraints.

Keywords: solar energy, socio-economic impacts, women, Tigrai, Ethiopia

Topics: Class, Economies, Education, Gender, Women, Health, Households, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Ethiopia

Year: 2015

Citation:

Chukuezi, Comfort Onyemaechi. 2009. “Gender and Renewable Energy in Rural Nigeria.” International NGO Journal 4 (7): 333–36.

Author: Comfort Onyemaechi Chukuezi

Abstract:

The paper examines ways in which increased attention to renewable energy and gender linkages can help promote development, as well as work towards meeting the target set out in the millennium development goals. It argues that poor women in rural areas generally rely on burning traditional biomass fuels which impact negatively on their well being. The paper explains that increased access to renewable energy sources can contribute to the achievement of the millennium development goals relating to eradication of extreme poverty, hunger, improvement in health, education and environmental sustainability as well as empowerment of women.

Keywords: gender, energy, rural, Nigeria, millenium, goals

Topics: Development, Economies, Poverty, Education, Environment, Gender, Women, Health, Infrastructure, Energy Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2009

Citation:

Porter, Gina, Kate Hampshire, Albert Abane, Alister Munthali, Elsbeth Robson, Mac Mashiri, and Augustine Tanle. 2009. “Youth Transport, Mobility, and Security in Sub-Saharan Africa - The Gendered Journey to School.” In Women’s Issues in Transportation - Summary of the 4th International Conference. Vol. 2. Irvine, California: Transportation Research Board.

Authors: Gina Porter, Kate Hampshire, Albert Abane, Alister Munthali, Elsbeth Robson, Mac Mashiri, Augustine Tanle

Abstract:

This paper draws on empirical data from a three-country (Ghana, Malawi, and South Africa) study of young people’s mobility to explore the gendered nature of children’s journeys to school in sub-Saharan Africa. Gender differences in school enrollment and attendance in Africa are well established: education statistics in many countries indicate that girls’ participation in formal education is often substantially lower than boys’, especially at the secondary school level. Transport and mobility issues commonly form an important component of this story, though the precise patterning of the transportation and mobility constraints experienced by girls and the ways in which transport factors interact with other constraints vary from region to region. In some contexts, the journey to school represents a particularly hazardous enterprise for girls because they face a serious threat of rape. In other cases, girls’ journeys to school and school attendance are hampered by Africa’s transport gap and by cultural conventions that require females to be responsible for pedestrian head loading (transporting loads such as food crops or fuel on the head) and other work before leaving for, or instead of attending, school. evidence comes from a diverse range of sources, but the data used here are principally drawn from a survey questionnaire conducted with approximately 1,000 children ages 7 to 18 years across eight sites in each country. The aim of this study is to draw attention to the diversity of gendered travel experiences across geographical locations (paying attention to associated patterns of transport provision); to explore the implications of these findings for access to education; and to suggest areas in which policy intervention could be beneficial.

Topics: Age, Youth, Education, Gender, Women, Girls, Gender Roles, Infrastructure, Transportation Regions: Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana, Malawi, South Africa

Year: 2009

Citation:

Lyle-Gonga, Marsha. 2013. “A Critical Analysis of Gender Mainstreaming.” Politics & Gender 9 (02): 209–13. doi:10.1017/S1743923X13000056.

Author: Marsha Lyle-Gonga

Abstract:

By definition, gender mainstreaming is the process by which a gendered perspective (male and female) is integrated into the fabric of our communities, institutions, and lives (United Nations 1997). We live in a society defined by our values of equality, social justice, and opportunity. In order for these values to permeate into our everyday lives, we must address issues of “separateness” that still seem to prevail in our institutions, particularly in our political science curricula. Di Stefano (1997, 204) presented gender as “a socially constructed and politically enforced notion of what it means to be male or female” and argues that this gendered lens is “political because it has the power to impose meaning and value to our activities and social relationships.”

Topics: Education, Gender Mainstreaming

Year: 2013

Citation:

Sovacool, Benjamin K., Shannon Clarke, Katie Johnson, Meredith Crafton, Jay Eidsness, and David Zoppo. 2013. “The Energy-Enterprise-Gender Nexus: Lessons from the Multifunctional Platform (MFP) in Mali.” Renewable Energy 50: 115–25.

Authors: Benjamin K. Sovacool, Shannon Clarke, Katie Johnson, Meredith Crafton, Jay Eidsness, David Zoppo

Abstract:

The Mali Multifunctional Platform (MFP)—a government managed, multilaterally sponsored energy program that distributed a small diesel engine attached to a variety of end-use equipment—expanded access to modern energy services and raised village incomes from 1999 to 2004. Over this period, it successfully distributed more than 500 MFPs throughout Mali, and in doing so empowered women, improved educational opportunities, and enhanced food security and community cohesion. The MFP has also motivated the government to install 1800 such platforms by the end of 2012. Based on original research interviews supplemented with an extensive literature review, this study introduces readers to the rural energy situation in Mali and describes the history of the MFP project. It then discusses the benefits the project achieved, as well as five sets of challenges the MFP faces: a growing number of non-functional platforms, lack of policy coordination, poverty, dependence on imported technology and fuel, and patriarchy. The study concludes by offering six lessons for energy development planners and practitioners.

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Education, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Infrastructure, Energy, Security, Food Security Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Mali

Year: 2013

Citation:

Malonza, Rosemary, and Mildren Lumayo Fedha. 2015. "An Assessment Of Gender And Energy In Kenya: The Underlying Issues." International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research 4 (9): 137-153.

Authors: Rosemary Malonza, Mildren Lumayo Fedha

Abstract:

Despite concerted efforts by the government and non-state actors to improve access to modern energy resources and services in Kenya, women‘s energy needs have remained largely unrecognized in most national policies, planning processes and development efforts. This has led to negative implications on their health, education and livelihoods. This study employed desk review research design in analyzing secondary data. The study found that Kenya has made some progress in gender and energy with specific policies and strategies. However, low implementation has slowed down the progress. The study concludes that Kenya is yet to achieve gender and energy goals.

Keywords: gender, energy, MDGs, poverty, Kenya

Topics: Education, Gender, Women, Gender Mainstreaming, Health, Infrastructure, Energy, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2015

Relevant Links: Journal's Open Access Policy available here

Citation:

Toman, Cheryl. 2006. “The Link Between Women’s Studies Programs and Grassroots Organizations in Lebanon, the Balkans, and the Palestinian Territories: A Comparative Study.” Arab Studies Quarterly 28 (2): 55–67.

Author: Cheryl Toman

Abstract:

A primary goal of any women’s program is to create outreach opportunities beyond the university classroom in order to make a difference in one's community, whether at the local level or on the world stage. Thus, it is perhaps not a coincidence that strong Women's Studies programs have developed in Lebanon, the Balkans, and the Palestinian territories alongside successful women's activist groups. Together, they are able to work successfully despite the trials of functioning in conflict regions. This comparative study will analyze various women's organizations in these areas and their relationships with three Women's Studies programs in particular: The Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World in Beirut, the Center for Women's Studies in Zagreb, and the Women's Studies Program at Birzeit University in the West Bank. With a focus on work at the grassroots level as well as on research, these unique university programs in cooperation with women's associations not only aid women trying to survive and overcome the tremendous hardships of everyday life, but they are also playing an essential role, especially in the case of Lebanon and Palestine, in official policy making within their own governments. Lebanon, Croatia, and Palestine have been chosen for this comparison not only for their common ties to the Mediterranean, but also as home to multicultural peoples representing different stages of dealing with war and rebuilding. Although there are other conflict regions with women's activist groups that could be discussed here as well, Lebanon, Croatia, and Palestine stand not in particular since they are the only ones with well-established university programs in Women's Studies. The Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World in Lebanon and the Women's Studies Program at Birzeit University are the only two of their kind in the Arab world just as the Center for Women's Studies in Croatia is a model in Southeastern Europe.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Education, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Political Participation, Post-Conflict Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East, Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Croatia, Lebanon, Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories

Year: 2006

Citation:

Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Nadera. 2008. “The Gendered Nature of Education under Siege: A Palestinian Feminist Perspective.” International Journal of Lifelong Education 27 (2): 179–200.

Author: Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian

Abstract:

Military occupation affects educational space and places, transforming them into politicized, sexed, gendered, and racialized ones. The uncontrolled political violence in conflict zones causes psychological trauma, internal displacement and economic stagnation, and intersect to shape the gendered nature of education. This article is based on data collected from young Palestinian women in the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 2004–2007. Its theoretical background departs from the perspective that women's education in conflict zones is simultaneously a site of empowerment, resistance, and victimization. As such, the article demonstrates that the personal is political, and highlights how education can be both a source of consciousness-raising and a powerful mobilizing force for young women while simultaneously being oppressive in nature. The results show that the covert and overt acts of political violence against Palestinians has transformed Palestinian gender relations in complex, contradictory, and diverse ways while both militarizing and violating their right to education. In addition, the article argues that the study of gender and education requires close attention to women's words and acts in order to identify revolutionary modes of resistance that are capable of promoting social justice. It concludes by arguing that the daily terror facing young women on their way to school, the systematic denial of school permits, and other actions that interfere with their right to obtain an education not only necessitates the re-conceptualization of education conceived as a neutral zone and separated from the politics of the state, but also requires a close scrutiny of the gendered nature of education under siege. 

Topics: Armed Conflict, Occupation, Education, Gender, Women, Girls, Gender-Based Violence, Health, Mental Health, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Rights, Violence Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories

Year: 2008

Citation:

Kröhnert, Steffen, and Sebastian Vollmer. 2012. “Gender-Specific Migration from Eastern to Western Germany: Where Have All the Young Women Gone?: Gender-Specific Migration from Eastern to Western Germany.” International Migration 50 (5): 95–112. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2435.2012.00750.x.

Authors: Steffen Kröhnert, Sebastian Vollmer

Abstract:

With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, open migration from East to West Germany became possible. Between 1989 and 2007, roughly 10 percent of the East’s population at the time of reunification migrated from east to west. The emigrants were predominantly young and female. This selective migration pattern led to a tremendous deficit of females in the 18–29 year old age group in eastern Germany. Overall, the sex ratio in that age group is as low as 89 females per 100 males in the east. In some rural counties, the sex ratio is 80 females per 100 males. We find that excess female emigration at the county level is associated with gender disparities in educational attainment that favour women, a labour market structure that favours men and the lower availability of potential partners with similar levels of education in eastern Germany.

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Migration, Education, Gender, Women, Gender Balance Regions: Europe, Central Europe Countries: Germany

Year: 2012

Citation:

Ramnarain, Smita. 2015. “Interrogating Women’s Peace Work: Community-Based Peacebuilding, Gender, and Savings’ Co-Operatives in Post-Conflict Nepal.” Community Development Journal 50 (4): 677–92. doi:10.1093/cdj/bsu065.

Author: Smita Ramnarain

Abstract:

Recent trends towards community-based and participatory approaches to peacebuilding and acknowledgment of the greater need to incorporate women's voices have resulted in experiments devolving responsibilities for building peace to women's organizations at the grassroots level in post-conflict situations. This article discusses one such experiment that women's savings and credit cooperatives in Nepal have undertaken to mediate conflict and build peace at the local levels. Using women's narratives emerging from interviews and focus group discussions, the gendered assumptions behind women's community-based peacebuilding activities, and implications for women's sustained participation in peace work, are examined. The findings reveal that this model of peacebuilding relied on educating and training women but neglected to explore the structural inequalities that cause violence. Indeed, the expectation placed on women's savings and credit co-operative members to perform unremunerated and sustained peace work in their communities may itself reflect inequalities of power that community-based peace models need to address.

Topics: Economies, Education, Gender, Women, Peacebuilding, Political Participation, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Nepal

Year: 2015