Bara, April 13

Guarantee of women’s increased access to energy will help conserve and protect the environment, said participants of training for women on renewable energy efficiency yesterday.

Though women do the kitchen work and collect firewood, an increasing number of women are using electric appliances mainly for household purposes. However, lack of knowledge of safe, proper and efficient utilisation of cooking fuel and electric equipment has added multiple problems to their lives, they said.

Lack of women’s participation in policy and decision-making level should be addressed, they asserted.

Inaugurating the training, Nijgadh Municipality Deputy Mayor Leeladevi Lamichhane said women and energy were interrelated, but the government had yet to acknowledge this.

Nepal Energy Foundation’s director Dilli Ghimire presented a paper on ‘energy safety and civic right in energy’, journalist Krishna Adhikari presented a working paper on ‘energy efficiency and renewable energy’ and WoNEE’s president Kala Timilsina presented a working paper on ‘women and energy issues’ during the training.

A total of 35 women from Nijgadh and Kolhawi municipalities were present in the programme. The training was organised by Nepal Energy Foundation and Women Network for Energy and Environment and supported by Alternative Energy Promotion Centre.