Seven South Sudanese rural women have been nominated by the Ministry of Gender to participate in a solar electrification course due to take place in India between this month and March 2012 and left yesterday for India.
The project is aimed at electrifying villages in South Sudan using solar power by training women to become Barefoot Solar Engineers, Bakhita Radio reported.At the end of the course, the women will be provided with the necessary equipment, materials and technical support to install and maintain solar lighting systems in their villages.
Six women were selected from Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap and Unity and one from Central Equatoria.
The project is implemented in collaboration with Barefoot College India, and the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women.
South Sudan was selected to be among the first countries in Africa to implement the solar power initiative.
Other African countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Liberia, and Egypt would follow.