Mainstreaming Gender and Energy in South Asia 1 Jyoti K. Parikh Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, India D espite much technical progress in the world, many rural women still use traditional biofuels, such as crop residues, dung and fuel wood. Reliance on these traditional fuels is widespread in rural areas of countries in South Asia with large populations and high poverty rates. This situation has serious consequences for women s health, due to the physical burdens involved in gathering and transporting these fuels, as well as the indoor air pollution resulting from fires. Traditional biofuels emit a large number of pollutants associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as stillbirths, premature births and low birth weights. Other health problems associated with biofuel pollutants include acute respiratory infections, chronic lung disease and heart disease, cancers, and eye problems. The primary sufferers are women and young children both of whom spend a large amount of time in the home (Parikh, J., et al., 2002). Greater political will and cooperation among government ministries, development agencies and community organisations is needed to ensure that rural women can choose from a range of cleaner fuels and energy technologies, in order to reduce their workload and increase their social and economic opportunities. Unfortunately, the gender and energy issue is not specifically mentioned among the UN s Millennium Development Goals, even though many of the stated goals can only be achieved if the issue of sustainable energy supply is addressed, in consultation with women. A transition to sustainable rural energy sources should to be an important goal of national development. Industrialised countries, and even urban households in developing countries, have long ago adopted cleaner and more convenient fuels. Yet, so far, no one is willing to set a target date for when this should happen in the rural areas of developing countries. Gender and Energy Issues Gender and energy issues have remained on the periphery of development policy, and require greater political attention and backing. Because women are particularly impacted by the continued use of traditional fuels, a special commitment is necessary to provide them with cleaner fuel choices (Parikh, J. et al., 2002). In addition, a similar commitment is needed in order to implement rural electrification, which increases opportunities for income generation through agriculture and small-scale industries. With regard to health effects, it is now time to shift from academic studies on how many deaths take place, to the prevention and treatment of diseases. Past approaches to rural energy development have often relied on outside experts delivering technologies recently has increased attention been given to involving women in assessing and adapting fuel and technology choices, and only recently has attention been paid to the problems of technology diffusion among illiterate or ________ 1 I thank ENERGIA for giving me the opportunity to prepare a regional paper for South Asia. I am grateful to Gail Karlsson for her valuable inputs and her constant support. I thank Pramod Dabrase for research assistance, Mahesh Mohan for secretarial assistance and Alex Howell for editorial assistance. 1 ENERGIA INTERNATIONAL NETWORK ON GENDER AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REGIONAL PAPER P REPARED FOR THE WORLD S UMMIT ON S USTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AUGUST 2002