Secretariat voices deep concern for all women and girls affected by war 

In these extraordinary times when war is raging on the European continent and on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the Secretariat would like to reiterate its solid commitment to gender equality and deep concern for all women, girls and children who are disproportionately affected by the ongoing war. Women’s voices need to be heard, especially now. As underlined by Director Lorkowski when joining the International Gender Champions (IGC) leadership network¹, “This should start with recognizing that women are disproportionally impacted by issues like energy poverty and climate change, but also by ensuring that women and men are equally represented at the decision-making table.” In this regard, we would like to highlight the pledge made by Director Lorkowski to stop all forms of gender-based violence and no longer take part in single-sex panels as part of his IGC membership.

The Secretariat is committed to raising awareness of the importance of collecting gender-disaggregated data in the energy sector to inform energy analysis and develop appropriate, evidence-based responses, policies and legislation. To facilitate future gender-disaggregated data collection, the organization in the course of March will publish policy guidelines explaining why data are essential to evaluate and track the pivotal role of women, also as prosumers, in the energy sector.

The Secretariat continues to endorse the Panel Parity Pledge. Also, the Secretariat endorses a gender-responsive procurement policy, intended as the inclusion of the impact on gender equality and women’s empowerment in its procedures for the procurement of services and works.

For an overview of our commitments and gender equality initiative, please refer to the links below.

¹ IGC is a leadership network that brings together decision-makers determined to break down gender barriers and make gender equality a working reality in their spheres of influence.