The energy transition is creating new opportunities in areas such as renewable energy, power grids, efficiency, storage, and emerging technologies. The challenge facing Latin America and the Caribbean is ensuring that existing gaps are not carried over into this new energy economy. This was one of the key messages conveyed by OLACDE during the webinar “Gender Mainstreaming in Energy: Closing the Gender Gap,” held on July 22 in collaboration with CARICOM.
Gloria Alvarenga, OLACDE’s Director of Integration, Access, and Energy Security, stressed that the design of public policies will determine who gains access to new jobs, who takes part in strategic decisions, and which sectors benefit from investment. Gender gaps in the region are concentrated mainly in four dimensions: access to modern energy, specialized technical employment, leadership spaces, and the availability of gender-disaggregated data—an essential element for directing budgets and investments toward genuine territorial needs.
The diagnosis presented shows that women remain underrepresented in key areas such as engineering, construction, operation, maintenance, digital technologies, and decision-making positions on boards and regulatory bodies. Alvarenga highlighted the regional paradox: even within the renewable energy sector, where employment is growing, women’s participation remains largely confined to administrative roles, logistical support, communications, or social management.
This scenario is heavily shaped by structural barriers such as unequal access to STEM education, a lack of mentorship, workplace bias, and an inequitable distribution of unpaid care work.
From diagnosis to action
OLACDE proposes a roadmap structured around five government priorities: generating accurate diagnostics and data; integrating equality objectives, budgets, and accountability into energy policies; expanding technical training and encouraging women’s participation in STEM fields; strengthening their institutional leadership; and implementing rigorous mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating public investment.
The goal is to ensure that gender equality is a cross-cutting principle from the design through the evaluation of energy policies. On the operational side, the organization is already carrying out concrete initiatives, including a program to introduce girls and young women to STEM disciplines. This initiative, previously implemented in Chile and Ecuador, aims to gradually expand into Central America and the countries of the Caribbean community.
OLACDE also produces annual technical notes on gender, promotes networks of women in the sector, and supports rural electrification and clean cooking projects, demonstrating how access to modern energy can free up time spent on unpaid domestic work and drive socioeconomic development.
The joint work between OLACDE and CARICOM strengthens a regional agenda focused on advancing equitable employment, innovation, and multilateral cooperation. Drawing on the region’s abundant renewable resources and technical strength, both institutions reaffirmed their commitment to working with governments, businesses, and civil society to ensure that the decarbonization process effectively helps close gender gaps in Latin America and the Caribbean.
