Young women professionals in Central Asia get career kick-start in energy sector through OSCE training course

The OSCE organized an intensive in-person and online training course from 17 to 21 April 2023 on renewable energy for around 100 young women from Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Mongolia, to help them kick-start careers in the sustainable energy sector.

The training course, held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, was a collaboration between the OSCE and the Kazakh-German University (DKU).

“Providing women with access to adequate training and career opportunities in sustainable energy will increase the quantity and quality of the workforce needed for a successful energy transition, and the long-term energy security of Central Asia,” said Giulia Manconi, an OSCE Senior Energy Security Programme Officer, who was a lead organizer of the training course.

The course featured a series of lectures and site visits where participants gained advanced knowledge on the development of solar and wind energy in Central Asia, alternative fuels, energy storage systems, and efficient technologies for heating and cooling. The participants also learned about the economic aspects of renewable energy deployment, as well as its gender dimension.

“I am a technologist and we work on the topic of biogas. I'm making my first steps in this field now, but I hope that in my professional life, I will become more involved in this topic and connect my work or research to it,” said Altynay Yelgundinova, a participant from Kazakhstan.

The participants also had an opportunity to network with industry experts and potential employers through the course. “Currently, there is active planning and construction of small hydropower plants in Kyrgyzstan. In the future, I would also like to be involved in their construction. At the training, I learned directly from experts who provided concrete examples of hydropower construction and their potential,” said Asylbu Kudaibergenova, a participant from Kyrgyzstan.

The course also included an onsite visit to Qapshagai solar power plant 2MW — a renewable energy facility in Kazakhstan. "When one steps into such facilities, one is first and foremost an expert in the field, and gender comes second. The added value is that we learn in practice the technology behind the installation and operation of such sites,” said Durdona Jimboeva, a participant from Tajikistan.

The training course is part of the OSCE’s initiative on Empowering Young Central Asian Women in the Energy Transition. The initiative is one of the activities being carried out within the OSCE Project on Promoting women’s economic participation in the energy sector for energy security and sustainability in Central Asia, which is co-funded by Austria, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Poland.