Gender equality, equity and women’s empowerment framework: a proposed framework to assess and monitor gender equality, equity and women’s empowerment in modern energy cooking services (MECS)

<p dir="ltr">Executive summary:</p><p dir="ltr">Shifting to modern energy cooking services (MECS) can bring many benefits for communities (such as social, economic and health), address multiple sustainability challenges and gender inequalities while achieving SDG7 (Stritzke et al. 2023). Yet, technology on its own does not guarantee more equitable and inclusive outcomes (Johnson et al. 2020). Social, political, economic and cultural dynamics contribute significantly in multiple ways, not just in the distribution of benefits and impacts, but also in decision -making and implementation (Johnson et al. 2020). There may be different outcomes and dynamics depending on the prevailing power relations, spatial and social contexts (Johnson et al. 2020). Existing structures of discrimination may also lead to women and disadvantaged groups being excluded not only from the social and economic benefits and impacts of such interventions, but also in decision-making and implementation (Arthur et al. 2022). Therefore, effective integration and understanding of the gender dimensions in the MECS sector and understanding existing structures are crucial to ensure a just transition, equal distribution of resources, and to remove structural barriers that limit individuals’ participation and engagement in the sector to accelerate access to MECS.</p><p dir="ltr"><br>This report identifies the gender dimensions in MECS sector and presents a holistic framework to monitor progress on gender equality, equity and women’s empowerment in the MECS sector at the local and national, as well as in households and organizations. The framework considers multiple gender dimensions: 1) the ability to access modern energy cooking services (MECS), 2) the ability to access resources (co-benefits) related to the MECS sector (such as time and labour, safety and freedom of violence, health and well-being, knowledge, information and technologies, social capital, and financial resources), 3) the ability to exercise agency at the household level and public participation, and the freedom of movement, and 4) the multi-level enabling environment (social, policy, economic, and environmental contexts) to ensure equal access to MECS and MECS-related resources, employment and leadership positions, as well as the ability to participate in the MECS transition.</p><p dir="ltr"><br>The proposed framework is based on the Social Measurement Tool that was developed by the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) and the International Centre on the Research for Women (ICRW) to measure how cleaner cookstoves and fuels empower women and create social change (CCA and ICRW 2016). The Social Measurement Tool is the most comprehensive tool that was developed for the clean cooking sector; however it requires further modification to fit with the significant progress and wider impact of the MECS sector. The framework also adapted the conceptual model that was established to monitor and achieve gender equality and equity in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector (Caruso et al. 2021a; Caruso et al. 2021b). Both sectors, MECS and WASH provide access to basic services and bring significant social, economic and environmental benefits for communities, specifically for women and girls. The CCA and the ICRW Social measurement Tool and the WASH gender equality framework were tailored and modified to align with SDG 5 and SDG 7 interlinkages (UNDESA 2022) and to fit with the context of the MECS sector. Gender-specific indicators and survey questions were designed to monitor and assess progress made in each domain and sub-domain. Indicators and survey questions were influenced by the CCA and ICRW Social Measurement Tool, Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE), Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), and the national, regional and global tools and measures that were used to assess gender equality in the WASH sector (Caruso et al. 2021c)<br></p>