Engendering Industries Welcomes New Partners

USAID’s Engendering Industries program welcomes 13 new partners from 10 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East.

USAID’s Engendering Industries, a program that advances gender equality in male-dominated industries, partnered with 13 new organizations to increase women’s participation in the workplace. Building on the successes of our existing partnerships, the program now works with 41 partners in 27 countries. By increasing employment opportunities for women in male-dominated sectors, Engendering Industries provides tangible economic outcomes for women, including higher-quality and better-paying jobs, and increased household income.

Research shows that when women serve as leaders and employees, businesses benefit and company performance improves. Increasing gender equality enhances employee satisfaction, reduces turnover, and drives productivity, which helps companies meet their business goals. Engendering Industries provides partner organizations with expert gender coaching, enabling them to uptake tools and actions known to increase gender equality at each phase of the employee life cycle—from recruiting and hiring, to retention and succession planning.

Employees from partner organizations are also invited to participate in Engendering Industries’ Gender Equity Executive Leadership Program, a best-in-class 12-month executive course developed by Georgetown University McDonough School of Business and USAID that empowers decision-makers to integrate gender equality initiatives into their corporate structure. 

• Société Nationale des Eaux du Bénin (SONEB), Benin: SONEB operates approximately 60 urban drinking water supply systems and serves over 245,000 customers. SONEB partnered with USAID to increase gender equality across the company and company performance.tionally female-dominated customer care roles.
• Celsia, Colombia: Celsia is a Colombian power utility that generates 100 percent of its power from clean energy. Thirty percent of the utility’s 2,100 employees are women.
• Centrales Eléctricas del Norte de Santander (CENS), Colombia: CENS is a Colombian power utility that is at the forefront of the global energy transition. CENS serves over 560,000 customers and employs 600 people, and thirty percent are women.
• Grupo ISA, Colombia: Grupo ISA operates across six countries, has over 50 affiliates and subsidiaries, and employs over 4,000 people. Engendering Industries will support two of Grupo ISA’s subsidiary companies: ISA Intercolombia and Internexa.
• Instituto Nacional de Aguas Potables y Alcantarillados (INAPA), Dominican Republic: INAPA provides drinking water, wastewater services, and rainwater disposal to 71 percent of the population. The utility is partnering with USAID to increase gender equality and improve company performance.
• Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG): ECG supplies electricity to six regions in southern Ghana. The utility serves over 1.8 million customers, and partnered with USAID to increase gender equality across the company and improve company performance.
• Grenada Electricity Services (Grenlec): Grenlec supplies electricity to 50,000 customers on the islands of Grenada, Petite Martinique, and Carriacou. The utility is partnering with USAID to increase gender equality and improve company performance.
• USUG, Mongolia: USUG partners with USAID to increase gender equality across the company and encourage more women to enter Mongolia’s water sector.
• Delta State Urban Water Corporation (DESUWACO), Nigeria: DESUWACO supplies water to over two million Nigerians in Delta state. The utility employs 445 people, but only 15 percent are women.
• Société Tunisienne de l'Electricité et du Gaz (STEG), Tunisia: STEG is partnering with USAID to increase gender equality across the company and encourage more women to enter Tunisia’s energy sector.
• Uganda Electricity Generation Company (UEGCL): Engendering Industries work with UEGCL expands job opportunities for women and enhances the utility’s performance.