U.S Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission encourages women’s involvement in Guyana’s energy sector
WHILE women have traditionally had limited involvement in the energy sector, Guyana is defying this notion by placing women-owned businesses at the forefront of the nation’s energy transition.
Highlighting the significance of women claiming their rightful position, especially in male-dominated sectors, Adrienne Galanek, Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy in Guyana, encouraged women to step forward without hesitation.
During the recently held inaugural Women in Energy (WiE) Forum, Guyana’s energy sector was brought into focus since it is the cornerstone for the nation’s unprecedented development.
WiE had held its inaugural forum at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) under the theme “Championing Women in the Energy Sector: Creating Pathways.”
Women who have been on the forefront of advocating and supporting fellow females and bringing attention to the grip that gender inequality has on society were present at the WiE forum. Among some of the key speakers were: British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller and the Managing Director of SLB for Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, Sharlene Seegoolam.
During Galanek’s remarks, she said: “It’s no secret that the energy sector is driving transformational change in Guyana and we need to ensure that everyone fully, meaningfully and equally contributes to and benefit from Guyana’s economic growth. To all the women in the room continue to claim your place and chart your course as part of Guyana’s incredible transformation.”
Achieving the goal of increasing the number of women within the workforce and empowering them has been a priority of this current government and according to the Galanek; this statistic is improving within Guyana. However, more still needs to be done.
“Every country including my own needs to do a better job of improving opportunities for women in the workplace,” she said, adding: “The good news is that change [is] happening very quickly and I can already see it happening here in Guyana.”
She proceeded to elucidate various strategies that can help to strengthen the inclusion of women in both the energy sector and the overall workforce. One example she provided was the need for investment in skills training.
In this regard, Galanek related: “We know a strong educational background is key to joining the industry and the ministries of labour and education have multiple programmes to prepare young people for oil and gas. But women also need to know that industry is opened.”
She then acknowledged that gender inequality is stagnating progress and proposed another solution to increasing the percentage of women within the energy workforce.
In this light, she said more opportunities need to be created for women along with a better work environment.
“It’s often said that people need their manager rather than their job. So don’t forget to train managers and ensure they reflect the diversity of your workforce,” she stated.
After explaining the pathways to creating gender equality and empowering women, she expressed happiness with the increase of women entrepreneurs in the energy industry.
She also commended the Local Content Secretariat for forging rules which require companies to specify how many women they will hire, which will, according to her, hopefully increase women’s participation further within the industry.
“As Guyana levels up, women-owned companies will drive the energy transition,” Galanek said.
