The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has challenged women to embrace renewable energy for social-economic development to make meaningful strides within their respective homes and communities.

UNDP's Gender and Development Specialist in Malawi, Juliet Sibale made the call at Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre during a Gender, Entrepreneurship and Financial training for women from Mulanje and Zomba mini-grid sites.

According to Sibale, time has come for women in the rural areas across the country to start using renewable energy productively. She said women can generate good and profitable business ideas from clean and renewable energy.

"We are trying to build entrepreneurship skills for women who are our beneficiaries under our access to clean and renewable energy project in Zomba (Chisi Island) and Mulanje mega min grid site in Traditional Authority (TA) Mabuka.

Generally we want to empower Women Entrepreneurs from the two mini grid sites on productive use of renewable energy for them to be able to improve their livelihoods," said Sibale

One of the participants Julita Kholiyo from Mulanje district commended UNDP Malawi for the training describing it as "timely". She said the entrepreneurship skills gained from the training will help her to boost her shop business.

Among others, the participants at the two days long training which started on Tuesday and end on Wednesday, will be drilled on productive use of energy, business idea generation, market research and financial management.

UNDP Partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone.