Gender & Youth Mainstreaming for an Inclusive Energy Future
This Women's History Month and in honour of International Women’s Day 2026, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) continues to champion gender and youth mainstreaming to drive an equitable energy transition. SEforALL recognizes a critical truth: we cannot achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) if we leave half the population and the next generation behind. Year round, SEforALL commits to #EmPowerHer by putting women and girls at the centre of the energy transition and championing inclusive growth. Through our Gender & Youth Programme, SEforALL positions mainstreaming as a core pillar, ensuring gender perspectives are embedded within all policies, programmes and interventions.
What is gender & youth mainstreaming?
Gender & youth mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implications for women, men, girls and boys of any planned action. By embedding gender and youth perspectives into the design, implementation and monitoring of energy interventions, we ensure that sustainable energy for all reaches even the most marginalized communities. This approach transforms women and young people from beneficiaries of energy into the co-creators and leaders of the energy transition.
Who should mainstream gender & youth?
Gender & youth mainstreaming is not just for international organizations. It is a vital tool for energy developers who are designing rural mini-grids, policymakers who draft national electrification plans and compacts, corporate leaders aiming to diversify their talent pipeline and event organizers shaping global energy discourse.
Integrating gender and youth perspectives into standard operating procedures is not just about equity, it is about effectiveness. Projects that consider the lived experiences of diverse users are more resilient, better utilized and more sustainable in the long term.
Tools for the energy transition
SEforALL recognizes that while many organizations want to be inclusive, they may not know where to start — or they may just need a reminder.
The Global Media Monitoring Project found that in 2025, women accounted for just 26 percent of news subjects and sources, appearing largely absent from broadcasting, radio, and print. The report finds that 41 percent of reports in traditional news articles are now women, an increase from 28 percent in 1995, important as articles written by women journalists are more likely to include women subjects than stories by men. This is key as only 2 of every 100 news stories analyzed in 2025 clearly challenged stereotypes, and only 2 in 100 stories cover gender-based violence, despite affecting half the world’s population. The way we communicate, and who is included in that communication, shapes policymaking, investment priorities, and how individuals see themselves.
The underrepresentation of women extends beyond the media. At COP29, for instance, only 8 out of 77 opening speakers were women. An analysis by the Women’s Environment and Development Organization found that women’s participation at COP28 was only 34%, a modest increase of just 3 percentage points from COP14 in 2008. At this rate, achieving gender parity in these global negotiations is not expected until 2043. This persistent underrepresentation reinforces a male-dominated decision-making process that often does not adequately represent women’s lived experiences.
To help bridge these gaps, SEforALL has developed two cornerstone resources designed to make inclusion and mainstreaming an everyday activity.
SEforALL’s Inclusive Communications Guidelines Tool recognizes communications as an essential element to participation. This tool helps organizations ensure their messaging, imagery, and outreach strategies resonate across different regions and demographics. By adopting these guidelines, organizations can avoid unconscious biases, truly represent the individuals they serve and ensure their message reaches the women and youth who are often the most excluded from energy discourse.
In response, SEforALL created the Gender & Youth Mainstreaming Event Guidelines to serve as a cornerstone to planning energy conferences, workshops, or virtual meetings. This tool provides a blueprint for planning and executing events that are inclusive, responsive, and transformative. From accessibility considerations to speaker selection and question crafting, these guidelines draw on global best practices to ensure every energy event is a platform for justice and inclusion.
