Women – the silent partners in the African economy

Women chant slogans during a demonstration calling for the repeal of family law in Sudan, on International Women’s Day 2020, outside the Justice Ministry headquarters in the capital Khartoum. Photo by ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been observed since the early 1900s when women’s oppression and inequality was spurring them to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. In 1908, 15,000 women marched through the streets of  New York City demanding shorter working hours, better wages and voting rights. The first National Women’s Day was observed across the United States of America on 28 February 1909 in accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America.

In 1910, a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen, where a proposal was tabled for an International Women’s Day (IWD) to be observed very year as a day where women can celebrate and press for their demands. The proposal was unanimously approved by over 100 women from 17 countries who attended the conference, and thus IWD was effected. Following discussions on the eve of World War I campaigning for peace 1913, IWD was agreed to be marked annually on March 8.

Role of African Women in Development and Economic Life and the challenges they face

Closer to home, women represent half the population of Africa, and although they are considered internationally as one of the main pillars of economic development, they have suffered from an unjust social heritage characterised by female genital mutilation, gender-based violence and child marriage.  This is in addition to discriminatory practices in terms of gender equality, wage disparity and/or bullying.

Across the continent, women are typically the primary caregivers and guardians of their children’s welfare. Moreover, they are often studying, working and managing the household at the same time. Despite their crucial role, women are too often subjected to violence by  men. Gender-based violence is then perpetuated through women having highly unequal access to finance. To make matters worse, they are often excluded from access to adequate healthcare or quality education. Women are also disproportionately excluded from democratic processes, and are subject to social norms and even laws that keep them subjugated. As a result of the discriminatory practices, unemployment rates are higher among female youth compared to male youth in Africa.

Formal sector employment has also presented challenges for women in Africa over the years. The above graphic shows that since 2001, there has been more female youth unemployment (15-24 years) compared to the male youth unemployment. According to the International Labour Organisation, an important employment challenge is tackling occupational segregation of traditionally accepted male and female jobs, and breaking the barriers in opening up professions to both sexes. Young women, particularly in developing countries, are often unable to take advantage of training opportunities due to barriers to entry, discrimination in selection and gender stereotyping.

Although female literacy shows a steady increase over the years, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has provided literacy programmes, including family literacy and intergenerational learning for the development of literate and learning societies, as well as health  literacy programmes which initially focused  on  women  as  the traditional  caregivers  and  targets  of  sexual  violence  and  genital mutilation. However, women’s social roles are  tightly interlinked with  men’s  social  roles,  and  programmes  are  now  taking  this into  account  in  order  to  include  men  as  well.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports have shown that several types of violence against women and girls have intensified. While the COVID-19 pandemic is claiming the lives of many, the lockdown and the resultant socio-economic burden has had a  disproportionate impact on women and girls’ socio-economic welfare by threatening to reverse the hard-won gains in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment. In Africa, there have been increased reports of abuse comprising GBV, sexual harassment, intimate partner violence, child marriage, domestic and sexual abuse of women and girls which was exacerbated significantly, particularly under the lockdowns.

While it is apparent that there has been enormous progress in enshrining women’s rights, there are limits to the law’s power to change behaviour, as the law cannot always shape norms and/or attitudes rooted in past absences of justice. One of the greatest shortcomings of post-colonial governments over the years has been their dereliction in dealing with conflicts that arise between the dictates of state customary law, which may be discriminatory towards women, and the move towards embracing human rights with their focus on the removal of sex and gender-based discrimination.

This IWD, 8 March 2022, the United Nations Women and the world at large are celebrating together under the theme “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”, and calling for climate action for women, by women.

Women’s representation in Africa’s politics increased fivefold between 1980 and 2015. Below is an overview of some of the women leaders in Africa:

African women in leadership and power

Source: https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/women-presidents-in-africa-20210318

Tracing the progress of African woman from the eve of the colonial period to the present, a general upward trend can be seen on key variables (on aggregate). However, there are severe systemic issues that still need to be addressed in order to ensure that women are afforded the opportunity to live safe and prosperous lives.