ENERGIA’s Gender and Energy Research Programme: Findings and Experience from Research for Policy

Abstract

It has long been understood that energy is a key contributing input to reaching development goals, but little is known about the extent to which energy supply benefits men and women equally, and how interventions could contribute to a reduction of any gender inequalities. Filling in gaps in knowledge on the gender equality of benefits of energy supply and providing insights for policy and practice were the starting points for ENERGIA’s Gender and Energy Research Programme. This article has a dual objective: highlighting findings and policy implications from the research programme and reflecting on aspects of programme design on doing research for policy. Findings from the nine research projects in the programme illustrate the links between energy interventions and impacts along an adapted energy results chain. Reflection on research programme design is based on the experiences in this international multimethod interdisciplinary programme.