ENERGIA advocacy activities aimed to identify key activities that could spur gender-oriented actions to influence negotiations, energy policies and programs. The process lead to the Ninth Session of the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD-9) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), including the preparatory meetings and the organisation of side events, represented the first steps in the right direction.

ENERGIA also had an inspiring role for a number of organisations, such as United Nations Development program Sustainable Energy and Environment Division (UNDP/SEED), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL/US), and The World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance program (ESMAP), which started programs on gender and energy. Others, such as Latin American Energy Organisation (OLADE), African Development Bank (ADB), UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ Regional Wood Energy Development program (RWEDP-FAO) and Winrock International sponsored workshops for which ENERGIA provided resources and links to relevant technical expertise and information.

These events provided the opportunity to raise the gender-energy issue, whereas reference was lacking. This is the case of the Conference of Parties (COP6), which took place in The Hague in November 2000, where very little was mentioned about gender and not even one women’s group was represented.