African Women Advancing Geothermal (AWAG) group kicked off at ARGeo geothermal conference

Dr. Pacifica Ogola, Uwera Rutagarama, Dr. Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, and H.E. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson gave remarks during the launch of AWAG

This week during the African Rift Geothermal Conference (ARGeo), the geothermal community witnessed the birth of The African Women Advancing Geothermal (AWAG). The idea of AWAG was mooted during the ARGeo C6 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to address the urgent need to close the gender gap throughout the geothermal industry value chain. AWAG is a totally independent, all Africa owned and Africa led initiative.

AWAG was officially launched by H.E. Olafur Ragnar Grimson former president of Iceland during the ARGeo C8 virtual high-level segment event. The launch was attended by African Ministers of Energy, African Union Commissioners, Representatives of UN Agencies, Ambassadors, Geothermal Experts and institutions from all over the World.

In his remarks, H. E. Olafur Ragnar Grimson lauded the Association saying that it would surely contribute to further boost different aspects of geothermal energy application on the Continent. He noted that the formation of AWAG is a huge step towards embracing Gender Equality in the Continent and geothermal development through a locally led initiative, and encouraged other continents to do the same. He further urged geothermal institutions to partner with AWAG in order to support their vision.

Most of the Women Geothermal Experts in the Continent are beneficiaries of the long and extensive capacity building programmes supported by the Government of Iceland through the United Nations Geothermal Training Programme (UNU-GTP), now GRO-GTP.

In her remarks the interim President of AWAG, Dr. Pacifica Ogola noted that positions within the workplace and the opportunities available to women have improved significantly in the past. Despite this improvement, the role of women is still limited because the number is limited. She reiterated that geothermal expansion in the continent (both high and low-temperature utilization) will improve the livelihood of the urban and rural communities and expand the job market for women to reach their maximum potential, and most importantly to enable them to achieve most of the Sustainable Development Goals (in particular goal 1, 5, 7 and 13).

Dr. Pacifica Ogola, Uwera Rutagarama, Dr. Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, and H.E. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson gave remarks during the launch of AWAG

In a rejoinder, Ms. Uwera Rutagarama, a reservoir engineer from Rwanda emphasized the need for collaboration and partnership, acknowledging the important role played by Iceland and by extension of H.E. Olafur Ragnar Crimson in Capacity Building in the Continent. The regional director for Africa office UNEP Dr. Juliet Biao also supported the formation of AWAG and encouraged partners to support the Association.

Source: ARGeo press release