At the Heart of Change: the Role of Women in Africa's Development

Women’s rights are at the center of Oxfam’s work, and this is something we see as necessary for development. Without gender equality, the African continent will not fulfill its remarkable potential for its people.

2015 saw gender equality enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the review of agreements seminal to women’s rights— including the Beijing Platform for Action and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.

Action is yet needed to protect and further African women’s rights. 2016 calls upon the political courage of the continent’s leaders to rethink economic inclusivity and reinvigorate efforts on human rights. Oxfam in particular is pleased to see the African Union declare 2016 as “The Year of Human Rights with a Special Focus on Women’s Human Rights.”

But it is a painful reality that there are 11 current armed conflicts in the African continent, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Within this context, violence against women and girls only escalates. At Oxfam in particular we continue to challenge this sobering reality through our multi-country and Pan-African initiatives that leverage empirical evidence and advocate to influence legislative change.

In 2016, governments mediating or supporting these discussions on peace, security, and development must insist on the meaningful participation of women as a condition of their involvement—this is a right, and a means to conflict resolution.

The United Nations found that less than 4 percent of signatories to peace talks from 1992 to 2011 have been women; many peace negotiations in Africa are testament to this statistic.

In the medium term, progress on gender equality requires Africa’s economic growth to be shared by its women and girls.

While GDP growth is expected to pick up to an average of 4.25 percent in 2016, the continent faces rising and extreme economic inequality. This is more concerning since, as recently found by the IMF, income inequality is strongly linked to gender inequality—as a cause, consequence, and solution.

Government investment in public services that enable gender equality such as good quality and free education and health care is therefore essential, as is ensuring that economic policies are assessed for their impact on women and girls.

When schooling, for example, comes with a price, and families face tough choices, too often Africa’s girls lose out from boy-preference.

Crucially, the disproportionate responsibility that women bear for unpaid care work requires attention: Recent Oxfam research, which was inclusive of three African countries, found that women on average spent nearly five more hours than men on care work per day. This issue must be addressed through investing in child and elderly care, public transportation, and other infrastructure that is gender sensitive as well as challenges the social norms that delegate this work predominantly to women.

Governments and private companies must also address gendered economic inequality through eliminating the gender pay gap and economic inequalities that accrue over women’s lifetimes - for example by introducing policies and legislation that promote equal pay, decent work, parental leave, and flexible work access to credit, equal inheritance, and land rights. And, of course, women’s economic equality will only be achieved when we address inequalities in all areas of women’s lives.

Finally, women’s organizations in Africa require increased financial support to drive change. They sit on the front line of efforts to represent women, tackle gender-based violence, as well as prevent and resolve conflicts, but too often they are not listened to. It is their voice that needs to be heard loudest, and their leadership that will reclaim their rights.

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This piece was originally published in the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative’s Foresight Africa: Top Priorities for the Continent in 2016. Read the full report.

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