How women transformed a Vanuatu community with off-grid solar
International Women's Day message
Flora Vano, country manager at ActionAid Vanuatu, frames this International Women's Day as a moment to confront global rollbacks of women's and girls' rights and the exclusion of women from decisions that shape their futures.
“Flora Vano is country manager at ActionAid Vanuatu”
She argues that, despite widespread setbacks in health, climate action, education and politics, a generation of women is organising in resistance and building collective power to effect concrete change.
Women-led solar project impacts
Over the past year, ActionAid, in partnership with the Australian government, PowerWells and the Women I Tok Tok Tugeta (WITTT) Network, implemented a women-led off-grid solar project in Lawital village on Tanna Island.
The project connected every one of the 115 homes in Lawital, transforming life for a community of 800 people.
Before the project, people who could not afford kerosene lamps saw their children unable to study after dark and women’s market stalls forced to close at sunset.
The introduction of reliable solar lighting has enabled children to study at home after sunset, allowed women to extend trading hours and earn additional income, and improved street safety.
Women-led solar resilience
The women in Lawital acquired technical skills to install solar systems and were trained in rapid-response protocols to safely uninstall systems before storms and reinstall them afterwards, helping to protect investments in a cyclone-prone region.
“Flora Vano is country manager at ActionAid Vanuatu”
Vano describes the sight of local women climbing ladders, securing mounting brackets and wiring panels as having shifted the community’s social fabric.
She calls on governments and stakeholders to provide sustainable funding for women-led movements so they can mobilise effectively and create lasting change.
She says the trained women are now an inspiration and are "leading a revolution".
With adequate resources, foundations can be set to achieve the United Nations’ theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls“.
Key Takeaways
- Women led an off-grid solar initiative that transformed a Vanuatu community
- Flora Vano is country manager at ActionAid Vanuatu
- Women and girls face significant rollbacks across health, education, climate and politics amid geopolitical distraction
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