What are the different ways that women and men engage in the economy? What disparities exist in terms of economic opportunities for women and men? How does women’s engagement in unpaid care work impact economic wellbeing at the household, community and national levels?
I am interested in learning more about the roles of women the current African economy and thus how these roles influence gender inequalities in the region. Because women have lesser access to education, how is the overall economy affected and what are the limitations in economic opportunities for women vs. men. What role do women’s expected household duties and unpaid care work responsibilities play in gender inequalities and lack of female involvement in the economy? How can we improve this?
3.1 Estimating the cost of the gender gap on sustainable growth & structural transformation in Africa
What is the gender gap costing us? I’m interested in how severely the economy is being effected by gender inequalities in Africa relating to economic growth and social issues that are occurring due to lack of women’s rights and political presence. Number of women killed by intimate partners is high in this region. Issues with child marriage and spread of HIV infections are also high.
I’m interested in learning more about what exactly is causing such great disparities between women and men’s political, labor and economic participation the in sub-Saharan in Africa. What frameworks are being implemented to improve the situation and what protocols already exist in the region related to decreasing gender inequalities?
Based of the data related to these issues it is clear that women’s life expectancy is consistently longer than men’s, though their education level and economic involvement is generally less. I’m trying to learn more about the causes of these disparities and what possible incentives can be found to work on reducing them and increasing women’s representation in leadership and the economy.
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Journey to Equality:10 Years of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa
- Discusses and celebrates increase in women’s rights and political presence in the African region since 2003.
- Includes messages from African women in power such as: second female president in Africa Joyce Banda of Malawi, H.E. Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
- Addresses the continued issues women face in Africa today:one of the highest material and infant mortality rates in the world women are disproportionally affected by HIV and Aids
- women do not have access to the same productive resources, justice system, career opportunities, education.
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Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
- A protocol adopted by the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in Maputo, July 2003 that significantly improved the rights of women in the region
- A collective of articles that provide women basic human rights with regard to life, integrity, security, marriage, dignity, prejudice, political participation, land, adequate housing, food security, healthy and sustainable environment, inheritance etc.
- Data suggests improvement to women’s right and reduction of gender inequalities in Africa.
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- Discusses a list of goals and accompanying data related to the improvement of women’s right in the sub-Saharan Africa and a range of other regions.
- Suggests gender gaps in labor are tied to a global financial crisis.
- Despite a general decrease in vulnerable employment number, gender gaps continue to exist widely across African regions and far beyond.
- Examines the progress made in education opportunities for girls and growth of female political involvement (still, only 1 in 5 parliament members is female).
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Gender Inequality in Education in sub-Saharan Africa
- Paper addresses overlooked issues in disparities between men and women in Africa starting from basic education and leading to high levels of illiteracy for girls and women.
- Discusses the impact of political instability, violence (especially towards women), poverty, female genital mutilation, child marriage, sexual harassment and negative culture values.
- Addresses the significant role HIV/AIDS plays is inequalities and lack of education as well as ineffective teaching methods even for those individuals with access to some form of education.
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Gender Disparities in Africa’s Labor Market
- Wages different significantly between men and women in sub-Saharan Africa
- Could be due to discrimination in labor markets but also greatly influenced by lack of access to education.
- Other influences include household duties women are required to perform
- Overall causes of gender disparities are highly multifaceted, a combination of complex issues that come together to create the greater overarching problem of inequality
- Solutions to this problem must therefore be equally multifaceted and well constructed if there is any chance of success.
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Tackling the root causes of gender inequalities
- Gender equality is a human right, but should it be measured globally?
- World Bank has suggested that education, employment, business, health and political participation are all contributors to lack of women’s rights and gender disparities
- Discusses Social Institutions and Gender Index and how this framework can be used to identify discriminatory social institutions suggesting they are a leading cause of gender inequality.
- Are each of the topic sections highly independent or is overlap welcome?
- Are we deeply tied to the questions presented or can we reformat and reconstruct them based on our personal interests and the data we are working with?
- What supplemental sources can we use? World bank?
- What is the purpose of the data? What is the ultimate goal?
- How much of the current data has been used before? and what for?