"The global drive to provide universal access to sustainable and modern energy by 2030 is creating numerous opportunities for energy users and suppliers. However, men and women do not benefit equally from these opportunities. As users, they have different energy needs linked to their different gender roles. Gender blindness in the sector has led to women's needs often being ignored. As suppliers, the energy sector has traditionally been male dominated. Despite stark gender differences in the energy sector, there has been a lack of evidence to inform more equitable policymaking. This issue of the IDS Bulletin aims to fill some of these evidence gaps through five original papers, part of ENERGIA's Gender and Energy Research Programme. The issue pays particular attention to women's involvement in the supply chain as energy entrepreneurs, an emerging area of research in the gender and energy space."

"For this study of Acumen's investments, an initial scan of 22 of Acumen's portfolio companies was conducted, and six of these companies, as well as one non-Acumen company, were selected for in-depth case studies. The case studies span multiple industries and geographies, and explore how these social enterprises are integrating gender into their management systems, operations, and most importantly, how they are engaging women as consumers, and where this engagement has helped improve business and social performance. The report also contains a new framework that outlines the ways in which gender can influence key business decisions. This framework has the potential to be applied broadly as a diagnostic tool to uncover short-, medium-, and long-term opportunities to more effectively integrate gender in ways that will support the business and social goals of these companies."