International Symposium on Gender and Renewable Energy comes to an end

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 31 (ACN) The 1st International Symposium on Gender and Renewable Energy (RE) concludes today with three specialized sessions, attended by the Cuban Electricity Enterprise (UNE) in an advisory capacity, about the empowerment, development and training of women in RE-related matters.

Held at Hotel Nacional de Cuba, the day’s program includes presentations by delegates from Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala and Panama, who will speak on the status of these issues in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as a panel discussion on women’s role in the RE boom moderated by Luis Esteban Arrieta (Colombia), director of the project FORMER, about strengthening the leadership and participation of Cuban women in the renewable energy sector.

Currently under way in eastern Cuba, FORMER intends to improve social and economic conditions and increase community resilience in the province of Holguin with the support of the local electricity enterprise and the Canadian international consulting firm COWATER, among other entities, thanks to donations from Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (GAC) and Sherritt International Corporation.

FORMER was presented and described during the Symposium by Ana Teresita González Fraga, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, and Eileen Stellard, director of the Division for Central America, Cuba and the Dominican Republic of the Canadian International Development Agency, one of the sponsors of the initiative.