This edited volume assesses the progress that sub-Saharan African countries have made towards gender equality and offers strategies that can be used to empower African women to contribute to the fulfilment of the United Nations’ (UN) 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs). The contributing authors consider the goals identified during the 1995 United Nations World Conference on Women and the 2015 UN World Conference on Sustainable Development in New York—including no poverty, healthy life, quality education, gender equality, peace and justice, reduced inequalities, and decent work and economic growth—and document the advances made on these goals, with a special emphasis on African women’s experiences. They provide innovative ideas for accelerating achievement of the SDGs and address challenges and opportunities in tourism, business, politics, entrepreneurship, academia, financial inclusion, and the digital gender divide. This book will be of value to policymakers, non-profit organisations focused on gender equality and sustainable development, and academics and scholars who teach and study gender-related issues in the African continent.

This book adds significantly to the discourse surrounding the progress made in empowering women in Africa over the last decade, providing strong research evidence on diverse and timely gender issues in varied African countries. Topics covered include climate change and environmental degradation, agriculture and land rights, access to – and quality of – education, maternal and reproductive health, unpaid care and women’s labor market participation, financial inclusion and women’s political participation. Cross cutting issues such as migration, masculinities and social norms are also addressed in this volume, which is aimed at policy makers, academics, and indeed anyone else interested in the UN Sustainable Development Goal of the empowerment of women and girls.

This book uses an open, explorative approach to deal with the different aspects of gender discrimination and gender empowerment policies, as well as their impact on economic development and capacity-building in several African countries. It uses primary and secondary data to present the argument that, without the full input of women, sustainable development will not be achieved in many African countries. This book is the first text written by knowledgeable gender issue experts that understand the culture of, and lived and conducted research in, Africa. It provides many examples of the relationships between gender and economic development around the African continent, highlighting different processes and practices. As such, the contributors here illustrate the impact of weak gender policies, and the ability to adequately develop female capacity building that could lead to wide-spread sustainable economic growth in Africa. They also explore a wide range of new dimensions and variables that are commonly ignored by other text books on gender equality. The book will help graduate, undergraduate students and other readers to understand women’s policies in the past, present, and future by analysing and illustrating cultural, political and socio-historical contexts which have shaped women’s role in the economic and sustainable development of Africa.

This book describes the political, social, and economic connections between gender and the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors offer innovative ideas for recovery that will build a more prosperous, healthy, equitable, and sustainable future for African women and girls, targets identified under Goal 5 (Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment) of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals slated to be achieved by 2030. Within this context, authors identify issues related to the protection of women and girls from poverty, hunger, and gender-based violence; improved healthcare and healthcare workforce experiences; girl-child education; financial inclusion; and entrepreneurship opportunities for women in fintech, tourism, and information, communication and technology (ICT). The book concludes with a discussion of economic empowerment for women that focuses on normalising the ‘un-normal’ outcome of the pandemic. The book will be of value to policymakers, non-profit organisations, practitioners, and scholars who understand the importance of gender equality and women empowerment in the African continent.

This book investigates the barriers to women’s economic empowerment in the Global South. Drawing on evidence from a wide range of countries, the book outlines important lessons and practical solutions for promoting gender equality. Despite global progress in closing gender gaps in education and health, women’s economic empowerment has lagged behind, with little evidence that economic growth promotes gender equality. International Development Research Centre’s (IDRC) Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) programme was set up to provide policy lessons, insights, and concrete solutions that could lead to advances in gender equality, particularly on the role of institutions and macroeconomic growth, barriers to labour market access for women, and the impact of women’s care responsibilities. This book showcases rigorous and multi-disciplinary research emerging from this ground-breaking programme, covering topics such as the school-to-work transition, child marriage, unpaid domestic work and childcare, labour market segregation, and the power of social and cultural norms that prevent women from fully participating in better paid sectors of the economy. With a range of rich case studies from Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Uganda, this book is perfect for students, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working on women’s economic empowerment and gender equality in the Global South.

Based on the outcome of an extensive research project, this book features chapters based on original primary field research undertaken by academics & activists who have investigated situations within their own communities & countries.

This book analyzes female entrepreneurship in the textile sector in Africa as a phenomenon that favors the social integration and economic development of women in certain geographical areas. It identifies entrepreneurship as an avenue through which women can escape the feeling of being trapped in the home and assert their independence while providing for their families. In the field of fashion, female entrepreneurs in resource-rich Africa have significant opportunities through knowledge of natural resources and cultural traditions, as the use of natural fabrics and original designs is one of the latest trends. This book provides a framework for how African women can develop sustainable fashion enterprises, offering an original and lasting contribution to the field of entrepreneurship.