The Superintendency of Electricity (SIE) signed an inter-institutional agreement with the Ministry of Women, in which both entities committed to encourage the training of men and women, under equal conditions, in undergraduate and continuing higher education academic programs directly linked to the energy sector.
They are also committed to establish the appropriate mechanisms, based on transparency, equality and parity, to strengthen conditions that benefit men and women in terms of the technical and professional tools used in the energy sector. The agreement was signed by the Superintendent of Electricity, Andrés Astacio Polanco and Mayra Jiménez, Minister of Women’s Affairs.
During his remarks, Superintendent Astacio emphasized that finding and applying rules that promote gender equality in the Dominican electricity sector will help to improve the lives of women by ensuring that their human rights are respected in an environment where everyone has the same opportunities. She expressed that ensuring gender equality in key roles in the electricity sector will allow for greater equity and social justice, as well as boosting the country’s economic growth.
“Gender equality in the Dominican electricity sector is essential, not only from a social justice perspective, but also to boost economic development, promote diversity of ideas and perspectives, empower women and comply with international sustainable development commitments.”
During her remarks, Minister Mayra Jiménez emphasized that “when we talk about equality, we are obviously talking about an issue that women obviously demand, because there is no reason that justifies that we are occupying a secondary role. But it is also very important to remember that when we talk about equality we are talking about development, we are talking about democracy. That is to say, we will not have a society with the level of development we need and deserve, a robust democracy, if half of the population is not occupying the spaces”.
The Gender Equality Unit (UIG) of the SIE was then launched, which will be in charge of designing, implementing and guaranteeing the follow-up of strategies and actions that allow the integration of the gender equality approach in the institutional actions. In addition, this unit will advise and promote initiatives with the areas of the regulatory institution of the Dominican electricity sector, for the integration of the gender equality approach in the policies, plans and projects in execution and to be created.
Aura Caraballo, member of the SIE Council, leads this committee as president. Other members of the Committee are Gisel Pérez, Gender Coordinator; Niurka Holguín, Director of Planning and Development; Aimée Tezanos, Director of Communications; Paula Castillo, Manager of the Office of Free Access to Public Information; Julio Ferreras, Senior Professional of the Retail Electricity Market Control Directorate; J. Hambser Díaz, Compliance Manager of the Legal Directorate; Russell Batista, in charge of Large Users of the Protecom Directorate, and Vianney Vásquez, in charge of Labor Relations of the Human Resources Directorate.
To close the event, Catalina Gutiérrez, an international consultant specializing in gender, gave a talk on “Sustainability with a Gender Perspective”.
The Superintendency of Electricity has the institutional commitment to contribute to closing gender gaps and making equality a reality, both in internal management and in the services it offers to the public.
The Gender Equality Units were formalized through the joint resolution between the Ministry of Public Administration (MAP) and the Ministry of Women (MMUJER) on September 11, 2019, with the purpose that these acquire an advisory role to ensure the gender approach established as a Transversal National Policy in Law 1-12 of the National Development Strategy. Therefore, they must be present in the plans and projects of government institutions.
Source: Presidencia.gob.do
