PHOTO: Mrs. Martina Honsa Janeta, Gender Director
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
Monrovia, Liberia- The Ministry of Mines and Energy has begun a five-day workshop for gender mainstreaming within the energy sector.
The workshop is aimed at preparing the gender unit staff and building their capacity for effective work within their various institutions especially playing the advisory role to their managing director or Minister.
In an exclusive interview, the Director of gender and social inclusion at the Ministry, Mrs. Martina Honsa Janeta said that the objective of the workshop is improve understanding and use of the terms relating to gender in their various activities.
According to her, the important of the workshop is to equip the gender unit staff to adequately do their workshop to enhance and promote gender quality in the energy sector due to the gender imbalance within the sector because the energy sector is mostly dominated by males.
She further disclosed that the purpose of the workshop is gender will be mainstreaming in order to see women occupying managerial positions and other top positions within the energy sector and other institutions as well.
Mrs. Janeta added that the workshop is also focusing on the increase of women participation in the energy sector.
The director of Gender and social inclusion at the Mines Ministry further added that she is looking forward to the Gender assessment in order to come up with a policy but needs funding in drafting the policy.
She revealed that at the end of the workshop, she hope to achieve women enhancing and participating within the energy sector completing with their male counterpart.
Mrs. Janeta has recommended that government should allocate budget for gender mainstreaming within the energy sector and will need funding to create massive awareness across Liberia including schools about the important of women participation in the energy sector.
She also recommended that her own Ministry which is the mines and energy Ministry should be involved with this gender mainstreaming issue which is not all about women.
Meanwhile, the workshop brought together eighteen participants from various government agencies mostly women.