From the 13th of 14th of June, elected members of the gender advisory committee in Rwanda Energy Group are in a workshop to establish a gender mainstreaming program and set timeframes and targets for a 3 years action plan.

This gender mainstreaming program was first launched On March 23 2018 during the workshop to celebrate the International Women’s Day at Rwanda Energy Group under the theme « Empowering REG Women to Energize Rwanda », and is supported by Enabel’s Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building project in the Energy Sector (CDEU).

The Energy sector in Rwanda still has a small number of staff women. This is due to the country’s historical and cultural background which discouraged women involvement in the technical works. Despite the  current political will in Rwanda and Government efforts to promote gender balance in all sectors, the energy sector still has a very low rate. As of today, REG women make up approximately 18% of the total staff.

In a bid to be able to reach the Rwandan Government targets of 30% women representation at all levels, Rwanda Energy Group has put in place a special committee in charge of establishing the program to ensure the gender mainstreaming in this sector.

Among the strategic objectives of this program include the representation of women at all levels of REG management, equal opportunities to promotions, equal access to career development programs as well as ensuring a working environment that is free from any sexual harassment.

“We believe that having women in the organization and especially in the management will contribute a lot to the success of our company” said the CEO of REG during the launching ceremony of the strategy.