South Asia Women in Power Sector Professional Network Project

pipeline

The South Asia Women in Power Sector Professional Network (WePOWER) is a regional network of South Asian energy sector organizations and technical universities that are committed to increase the labor-force participation of women in the energy sector. Currently, based on the request from the Partners (or members) of WePOWER, the South Asia Gender and Energy Facility II (SAGE II), a regional ASA at the World Bank, functions as the interim-secretariat of the network. Over 60 organizations are Partners of WePOWER and the network has national chapters in six countries. WePOWER Partners have requested the Bank to institute a permanent WePOWER Regional Secretariat (WRS) to sustain and scale-up the network and activities under the WePOWER banner. The WePOWER Partners have nominated the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) to assume the responsibilities of WRS. Under the proposed Project, the Bank will handover the network back to the Partners by supporting the WRS at AIT. A recipient-executed small grant from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) at the Bank will be provided to AIT as the recipient. AIT, as the WRS, will perform the core secretariat functions and engage the WePOWER National Chapters to manage and sustain the regional network. ESMAP grant will fund the secretariat functions. In addition, AIT, as a regional center of excellence for more and better jobs in the energy sector, will implement technical and leadership education and training programs and regional initiatives, to enhance the capacity of labor-force, benefiting both women and men, in the South Asian energy sector. Besides the start-up grant from the Bank, AIT will mobilize revenue from its education programs and arrange grants from other multilateral and bilateral agencies to implement the activities under the proposed Project.