Energy conservation: ‘A task fit for women’

FAISALABAD:

Young women can help save energy at homes and workplaces, participants of a workshop conducted jointly by the USAID Power Distribution Programme and Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) on Monday were told.

Around 1,500 students and 50 teachers attended the workshop in four colleges in Faisalabad and declared their commitment to taking practical steps to conserve energy.

Speaking at the workshops, the FESCO chief executive said that the workshop was aimed at developing consumer awareness, by involving the DISCO’s women employees, to inform and educate women to adopt energy saving habits at their homes and workplaces.

He said, “These sessions can help young women take the message to ‘go green, save electricity’ to their homes and create a ripple effect to remedy the current energy crisis.”

He said that the workshop also aimed at educating female students on the role and responsibilities of power distribution companies, with a focus on FESCO.

USAID Power Distribution Programme Gender Specialist Qurratul Ain Ibrahim told students about the project and how it contributes to electricity distribution companies in Pakistan. She also told them of its gender equality initiatives.

FESCO employee Musarrat Parveen told students how Pakistan’s power system works while Shumaila Nawaz spoke about FESCO’s role.

Aliya Kausar led a discussion on how each individual can help conserve energy in Pakistan and reduce their individual carbon footprints. The final year students were also told about job opportunities and internships available to women in the power sector.

The workshop was organised at Government College for Women, Peoples Colony No 2; Government Islamia Girls Degree College, Eid Ghah Road; Shiblee Girls Degree College, Madina Town; and Government College for Women, Gulistan Colony. Similar workshops were conducted in colleges in Islamabad and Gujranwala.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2012.