Lighting the Way to Women’s Economic Empowerment

The
women of East and Northeast India no longer need to fear the dark.
ONergy, an award-winning social enterprise, has developed a number of
innovative energy solutions that not only address the dearth of
electricity in the region – improving safety in their communities – but
also light a path toward economic empowerment for women.

ONergy’s innovative solar power solutions are providing energy to
meet India’s development and social challenges. To promote solar as a
clean and reliable source of energy, the company is training women
entrepreneurs in its products’ technology, usability and special
features. By partnering with local grassroots organizations –
microfinance institutions, NGOs and women’s self-help groups – the
company is imparting product know-how while also enabling these women to
serve as company distributors – providing both income and empowerment.

“Lack of energy is an important bottleneck to development. And women
are the central force in the development of their families and the
shaping of the next generation,” says Piyush Jaju, CEO of ONergy.
“ONergy’s products provide environmental benefits by reducing the use of
diesel generators, kerosene and other harmful energy sources – and
empower women to help shape a brighter tomorrow.”

Sandhya is a living example of how ONergy’s entrepreneurship
programmes are creating change among India’s poor people. Prior to
working with ONergy, Sandhya, 24, and her husband could barely make ends
meet financially. With the organisation’s support, she acquired a small
loan from a local microfinance institution and began conducting
demonstrations on the advantages of solar power, the uses of ONergy’s
products and the ease of buying them through microfinance institutions.
She is now able to light up her home, which allows her child to study
more easily. She occasionally accompanies her husband to the fields,
which utilize an ONergy solar-powered irrigation pump. By being the
first to electrify her house, and by taking the initiative to spread
awareness of the benefits and opportunities of solar power, Sandhya has
become an inspiration for many women in her village.

But ONergy’s solar products are not just helping the women who market
them. Tumpa, an embroiderer, was also struggling to make ends meet. Her
village in Sunderbans – the largest Mangrove forest area in India – is
also home to many wild animals, which made night time visits
particularly dangerous. And without light in her home, she had to stop
working at sunset. Tumpa and her husband invested in a solar light that
not only illuminates their home, but is also light and powerful enough
to carry outside, making it easy for her to use in her travels. Since
then, Tumpa has doubled her output, her children can study in the night
and she travels from one place to another without fear of being attacked
by animals.

To date, ONergy has provided training to more than 2,000 women and
aims to reach 50,000 in East & North East within the next three
years. The company has developed products for solar irrigation and micro
cold storage (for agriculture), low-cost solar computer systems (for
education) and solar microgrids (for livelihoods). It has built an
ecosystem that connects technology, finance and grassroots organizations
to manage the needs, aspirations and resources for undeserved customers
at the base of the economic pyramid. To date, ONergy has impacted
350,000 lives, and working with its microfinance and NGO partners, the
company plans to brighten the lives of 1 million women in the next two
years.

In 2015, ONergy joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA), a global
initiative supported by the United Nations Development Programme and
other international organizations that encourages companies to fight
poverty through innovative business models, with a pledge to scale up
its successful product distribution network in order to bring reliable
solar-powered products to India’s poorest and underserved regions. The
expansion is expected to provide solar energy to 1 million people by
2017 and reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 100,000 tons. Learn more here about the initiative.

Source: 3blmedia.com