Energy Plays an Important Role in Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

By Farhandi, Mohammad

Description
Economics

Excerpt
Energy plays an important role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. In particular, it contributes to poverty reduction and gender equality through increases in productivity, improved access to education and information, and improved quality of services. Energy is needed for lighting, cooking, entertainment, information, water pumping, and mechanical power, all of which are paramount to improved quality of life. Lack of access to affordable, reliable, safe, and environmentally benign energy is a severe constraint on development. It places a particular burden on women and children who are often responsible for gathering traditional fuels and who are the most affected by their use for indoor cooking. Energy has often not been considered a major priority in poverty reduction and gender equity strategies. To investigate the role of energy (especially renewable energy) in alleviating poverty and improving gender equity, the Asia Alternative Energy Program (ASTAE), with the support of the Government of the Netherlands, initiated the Energy, Poverty, and Gender Project (EnPoGen). The objectives of EnPoGen were (a) to identify and quantify the linkages between rural access to electricity, poverty alleviation, and gender equity; (b) to draw from these results lessons that may improve the impact of World Bank rural electrification projects, and projects supported by ASTAE, on poverty alleviation and gender equity; and (c) to contribute to the development of a methodology for monitoring the poverty and gender equity impact of rural electrification projects. In line with the World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty, poverty is considered to encompass not only low income or consumption, but also low human development in education and health. It also goes beyond these dimensions to include vulnerability, exposure to risk, and a lack of a voice and power. To achieve the above objectives, EnPoGen carried out three detailed country studies and developed, in cooperation with ESMAP, a tentative framework for developing, monitoring, and evaluating rural electrification projects. The country studies were carried out in China, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Although the main focus was on rural electricity, the studies addressed to some extent rural energy in general. The decision to focus on rural electricity was based on the fact that the majority of projects supported by ASTAE, designed to contribute to poverty alleviation and gender equity, dealt with rural electrification. The framework for developing, monitoring, and evaluating rural electrification projects includes participatory assessments and socioeconomic impact studies.