Full Title: Women's Employment in the Pacific Power Sector
Author(s): Pacific Women in Power
Publisher(s): Pacific Women in Power
Publication Date: October 5, 2024
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Pacific Island Countries (PICs) face economic challenges due to their remoteness, limited resources, and gender inequality. The remoteness, size, and limited resources of Pacific Island Countries (PICs) contribute to several economic challenges, including limited economies of scale, high transportation costs, and vulnerability to external shocks. While economies vary across the region, most countries rank relatively low on human development and gender equality indices. To address these challenges, PICs are increasingly focused on sustainable development and economic diversification to build resilience and improve living standards.
The energy sector plays a crucial role in addressing these challenges by providing reliable and climate sustainable energy solutions. The future growth of the Pacific region’s energy sector is focused on addressing energy access and upgrading outdated infrastructure. Nevertheless, among the challenges, limited technical expertise and institutional capacity hinder PICs’ energy transition and the development of a robust energy sector.
Increasing women’s employment in the energy sector is essential for building a strong and sustainable energy industry, as the sector needs all available talent to succeed in its transition. The employment gender gap in favor of men ranges from less than two percentage points to over 38 percentage points in PICs, and women are more likely to work in vulnerable employment and the informal sector, facing barriers related to social norms and high levels of gender-based violence (GBV) in some countries. Additionally, out-migration from PICs has resulted in brain drain, leading to shortages of skilled workers, limited returns on investments in human capital, and retention issues for organizations.