Tanzania: Officials Advocate for Creation of Energy-Related Departments
LOCAL officials are advocating for the creation of a separate unit to manage and coordinate the energy sector to improve efficiency in their communities.
They said currently there are departments of environment and community development in the country’s councils that administer a variety of activities, making it difficult to efficiently regulate the energy sector.
Kisarawe District Youth Development Officer, Dalidali Rashid, said the unit will help bring about changes, especially in energy use from the grassroots level, where many people are still unaware of.
Speaking at a meeting to wrap up the Empowering Women Engendering Energy (EWEE) project in Dar e Salaam yesterday, he said most people are still unaware of renewable energy, adding that establishing a unit dedicated to the energy sector will be vital in spearheading the sector especially in providing education to communities.
“Through the EWEE project, we have been able to commence integrating gender and energy issues into District Development Plans (DDPs). We also learned that it is past time for the national government to consider establishing such a unit to achieve sustainable development in this crucial sector,” Mr Rashid added.
The three-year project commenced in 2019 implemented by the Tanzania Gender and Sustainable Energy Network (TANGSEN) in Kibaha, Kisarawe and Mkuranga districts to advocate and build capacity for councils to integrate gender and energy into their development plans.
Kisarawe Community Development Officer, Abdallah Masati recommended that the President’s Office for Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) may issue a directive mandating all councils to include gender and energy components in their budgets in order for them to be approved.
“Even if the central government does not create that department to manage the energy sector at councils, PO-RALG can issue that guideline in the same way it has issued guidelines for free interest loans for women, youths, and persons with disabilities,” he said.
TANGSEN Programme Manager Thabit Mikidadi remarked that during the project’s implementation, they were able to assist Tanzanian energy companies in integrating gender into their activities, particularly in increasing female recruitment through the Women’s Employment Stimulus Fund (WES).
“We also collaborated with the Ministry of Energy on the Sustainable Energy for All Gender Action Plan (SEforALL GAP), which was approved and received funding.” The plan is currently under review,” he stated.
He also noted that the local government incorporated gender and energy into their development plans and allocated a budget for implementation.
By Daily News.
