The European Investment Bank Group is an employer that provides good opportunities for women.
The Bank is supporting Neoenergia, one of the largest electricity suppliers in Brazil, through a commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals with a €200m investment to finance renewable energy projects and open an electrician school for women to promote social inclusion.
In March 2022, the EIB Group signed a €200 million loan with Neoenergia to support more renewable energy projects in Brazil. The investment also helps the company improve gender equality and be more active socially.
Setting a good example to expand inclusion
Joana Sarmento Coelho, a loan officer at EIB Group who worked on the project, says Neoenergia’s electrician training programme sets a good example for other companies looking to expand inclusion.
“This project from Neoenergia is something they can be very proud of,” said Sarmento. “It shows that no matter the country or its social and economic status, when there’s a will, there’s a way. And this is definitely the way, the way to a more gender equal and prosper future.”
The programme was opened to women as part of Neoenergia’s commitment to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
“We thought about doing something different, something that simply hadn’t been done before,” said Barbosa, who is in charge of the School of Electricians. “In the end, we created classes exclusively for women. In that first year, we opened 120 vacancies for women and had over 15 000 applications. It was a bit of a shock, the response we had.”
Classes are now mixed with men and women, and 30 per cent of the openings are reserved for women. Breaking the stereotype of male electricians is not easy. This involves changing how men view women in the sector, how clients view female electricians and how women see themselves.
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