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.

In this important book, experts assess what the COVID-19 pandemic means for gender inequalities in the global south, examining how threats to equitable development will impact the most marginalized and at-risk women and girls in particular. The book draws on research across sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America to examine COVID-19-related issues around gender-based violence, work and care, education and health care, and asks whether global responses are enough to mitigate the negative outcomes of deepening gender inequality. It is a guide to stimulate the important debate about how to promote women’s rights during the management and recovery phases of the pandemic.

It is widely recognized that periods of crisis affect men and women differently, mediated by their access to resources and information, as well as social and institutional structures that may systematically disadvantage women from being able to access relief, institutional support, and rehabilitation. To capture the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, we conducted phone surveys in seven countries spread across Asia and Africa. The study was designed as a longitudinal panel study with five rounds of data collection in Ghana, Nepal, Nigeria, and Senegal, and three rounds of data collection in Kenya, Niger, and Uganda. Both men and women were administered the same survey, with some modifications made across countries to adapt to local contexts. This report gives an overview of our findings covering several topics including income loss, coping strategies, labor and time use, food and water insecurity and child education outcomes. We find widespread reports of income loss, which declined over time, but increased again as countries experienced a resurgence in COVID-19 cases and fatality. We find that households first depleted savings when faced with income loss and over time, use of savings reduced while other measures began to be adopted. Women reported greater food and water insecurity compared to men, including worrying about insufficient food and eating less than usual. This is particularly worrying since a large proportion of women also did not have adequately diverse diets. Moderate to severe water insecurity was reported in many of the countries, and as with food insecurity, women were more likely to report issues with accessing water for drinking and other household activities. In some countries, additional modules were added to capture country specific issues of policy relevance, such agriculture extension, mental health, and child marriage. The results make it clear that proactive investments will be needed, including social safety nets, favorable credit policies, nutrition and water investments, to ensure that the crisis does not further widen the gender gap in resources and achievements in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries.

The labor structure in sub-Saharan Africa is characterized by a high share of informal employment in the rural agricultural sector. The impact of COVID-19 on female employment may not appear to be large as the share of such employment is particularly high among women. Nevertheless, widespread income reduction was observed both in rural and urban households. This could worsen the opportunities for women as husbands’ control over the household resource is the norm. The paper also finds that rural children struggled to continue learning during school closures. Gender-sensitive policies are needed to narrow the gap during and post-pandemic.

The book explores gender disparities in South African organisations in terms of gender pay gap and the number of women occupying leadership positions. This is done against the background of prevailing patriarchal culture which is entrenched in many organisations, and which is hard to manage. Nevertheless, Covid-19 responses across different countries has provided the world with the evidence that women are good managers and leaders. This is because women led countries responded better to Covid-19 pandemic as compared to many countries that are led by men. Furthermore, due to lockdowns instituted in many countries, people were forced to work from home. This dispelled the myths that prevented organisations from affording women flexible times to work from home. Hence, the necessity for transformation in organisations.

This book is the outcome of a detailed research study to examine the trajectories, processes and outcomes of education, health, employment, water, sanitation and hygiene social policies in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, and to propose gender-equitable and transformative post COVID-19 social policy in these sectors. Though there is progress in varying degrees in these countries to attaining gender equity, there are still significant gender gaps in many areas. As well as examining the current situation, the study also plots progress longitudinally in 20-year periods from 1940 to the present day, and comparatively amongst the four featured countries. It provides both a rare and valuable historical study, as well as an up-to-date working policy framework. The research derives from the GETSPA (Gender Equitable and Transformative Social Policy for Post COVID-19 Africa) project, coordinated by the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana and conducted across the wider African continent. The book is a valuable resource for policy-makers at national and pan-national level, NGOs, and African Studies researchers. The study closely tracks the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), most particularly SDG 5 on Gender Equality, but also those dealing with Education, Employment, Health, and Water, Hygiene and Sanitation.