Gaia Consult’s Gender Assessment and Gender Action Plan for the “Fiji Agrophotovoltaic Project in Ovalau” has been positively evaluated by the GCF Board in the GCF/B.26/02/Add.15 Consideration of funding proposals.
The project, approved during the GCF 26th Board meeting, promotes the construction of a 4MWp Solar APV power plant in the 7-ha land in order to enable simultaneous solar power generation and agricultural production in the same area. In the case of Ovalau Island, the Agrophotovoltaic technology will contribute to achieving the NDC target of the Island without compromising its agricultural potential.
The objectives of the APV solar power plants are:
1) to enhance climate change resilience by reducing carbon emissions and improving energy security in Ovalau Island.
2) to revitalize community economics by promising additional sources of income from the implementation of the project to the host communities.
3) to improve the quality of life for the local people by providing more reliable electricity and implementing climate-resilient agriculture.
The role of Gaia Consult was to represent an overview of the gender situation in Fiji, identifying gender issues and necessary interventions in relation to the proposed project.
The Gender Assessment carefully investigates the existing gender inequality in Fiji in various socio-economic areas, including employment, poverty, education, health, and political and cultural dimension such as women’s participation in politics, government, and in traditional decision-making bodies with communities and families. In addition, special attention was made to Fijian women’s vulnerability to violence and climate change, and natural disasters. For the assessment, relevant data and reports available from the Fiji government and international organizations, as World Bank, were combined with the interviews of local women’s group representatives.
Gaia Consult identified two critical interventions to enhance gender equality and capacitate girls and women to enjoy the benefits of the project fully: 1) well-designed benefit-sharing arrangements (e.g., quota-based female employment and skill training with a substantial target percentage for PV system installation and associated construction as well as farming) and 2) gender mainstreaming measures (e.g., ensuring the equal participation of women in community consultation, decision-making platforms at all levels).
Based on the Gender Assessment, the Gender Action Plan listed specific intended changes in different spheres of project delivery and management to achieve better gender equality that will enhance gender awareness of both men and women at different levels of decision-making (at government, PMU, and community level) and support the required capacity- building (technical, management, etc.) at all levels for gender mainstreaming. Gaia Consult elaborated the main intended gender impacts of the project include including strategies to:
Improved economic status and living standard of women;
Raised awareness on gender equality and the ability to apply the principle in decision-making on project operations
More gender-responsive and inclusive local governance;
Enhanced gender mainstreaming capacity in project planning and implementation.