Action Plan for Gender Integration in Energy Activities

This Action Plan for Gender Integration was developed to address mainstreaming gender across the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) led activities. While the processes and intervention points mentioned are specific to the USAID-NREL portfolio of work they may also be applicable to other USAID Implementing Partner programs and more generally across clean energy development programming.

The objective of the USAID-NREL Action Plan for Gender Integration is to assist NREL researchers and practitioners working across the USAID portfolio of activities implemented through the USAID-NREL Interagency Agreement to be more proactive in identifying and addressing critical gender gaps in particular country contexts and/or directing resources where they are most needed to empower women. Specifically, the aim of this Action Plan is to:

• Increase gender integration across USAID-NREL Interagency Agreement activities to enhance gender impacts and strengthen programs
• Increase awareness and capacity of NREL staff on gender integration approaches
• Outline specific actions, roles, and responsibilities of NREL and USAID team members
• Leverage USAID and NREL’s thought leadership, capabilities, and convening power to increase gender integration in the clean energy sector across the globe.

Improving the consistent use of gender integration approaches across the USAID-NREL Portfolio will have significant impact on the gender equality and social inclusion outcomes, as well as strengthen energy and climate outcomes by enhancing the effectiveness of the programmatic approaches. NREL can integrate gender across the activities in the USAID-NREL Portfolio in four ways:

1. New activities that are identified in partnership with NREL, USAID Missions, and implementing partners that can mobilize new funding for gender integration at the country or regional level. Moreover, with well-designed gender analyses, at the outset of planning for new activities, it is possible to identify gender issues and opportunities. Increased understanding of the benefits and opportunities to more explicitly consider gender might also open new avenues for funding from USAID, NREL, or other external funding partners. These could be cross-cutting efforts, such as new tools, training, research products, or piloting of new country-level activities.
2. Activities in the pipeline that allow for planning early on to consider ways in which gender can be meaningfully incorporated in the scoping and design of the activities. This could be a participatory approach that includes NREL, USAID Missions, and implementing partners to make sure that a gender expert is meaningfully included throughout the entire process, including a gender analysis to identify gaps and opportunities.
3. Existing activities that can be adapted to better incorporate gender considerations. This might include examining the approved scope and workplan with USAID Mission and implementing partners to identify specific interventions to be modified or added.
4. Leverage current programs, including building on existing gender and energy programs and strategies, like offerings from the USAID-NREL Women in Power System Transformation (PST), USAID’s Engendering Industries, Enhancing Equality for Energy in Southeast Asia, the Self-Empowerment and Equity (SEE) Change Initiative, and gender integration guidance from the USAID Climate Strategy 2022–2030, 11 and USAID’s Guide to Gender Analyses in the Energy Sector. This would involve raising awareness and generating interest in these opportunities to begin to create a more diverse and empowered clean energy workforce.