Ms. Hanan Jaradat, co-founder of Eco-Bricks and one of the Champions of the 1st Edition of the Palestine CleanTech Innovation Competition, participated on March 18th, 2022 to the UNIDO Side Event at CSW66: "The Gender and Energy Compact: Catalyzing action for a just, inclusive and gender-responsive energy transition". As a young women entrepreneur working in the energy sector, Ms. Jaradat shared the stage with Vice Ministers and Deputies from UN Organizations to talk about her experience in a male-dominated environment and how she's working to overcome gender-based inequalities.
"I had to be very persistent to be taken seriously. From my experience, it is important to keep the focus on empowering women in the energy field because many other women are ready to enter this sector. I would also like to credit the Palestine CleanTech Innovation Competition, which gave us the entrepreneurial tools to launch our startup and helped me to gain credibility in the eyes of my prospects and interlocutors", she stated during the debate.
Ms. Jaradat also introduced the other panelists and audience to the innovative solution developed by Eco-Bricks to address the waste disposal challenges of the stone industry in Palestine. The company's construction materials use the sludge resulting from the production process to obtain bricks that have much higher insulating qualities than other products commonly available on the market.
