Empowering African Women for Sustainable Development

Toward Achieving the United Nations' 2030 Goals

Ogechi Adeola

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9783030591014
• eBook ISBN: 9783030591021
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Education Theory & Practice
• Index: Social Sciences

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 1995United Nations World Conference on Women and the 2015 UN World Conference on Sustainable Development in New York—includingno 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 topolicymakers, 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.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

O. Adeola (ed.)Empowering African Women for Sustainable Developmenthttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59102-1_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction: Empowering African Women – Towards Achieving the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

Ogechi Adeola¹

(1)

Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria

Ogechi Adeola

Email: [email protected]

There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.

—Kofi Annan

Abstract

As the world celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 2020, and moves towards the actualisation of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030), there is still more to be achieved on gender equality (Goal 5). Despite global advancements, a wide gender gap persists in Africa’s social, political, and economic life. This introductory chapter provides the background to initiatives put forward over the years by the United Nations (UN) to empower women and a discussion on the progress being made on gender equality, women empowerment, and sustainable development in Africa. The authors of this book provide an actionable prescription for empowering African women, thereby enabling them to contribute to sustainable development by 2030 and also, create the healthy, peaceful, and prosperous Africa described in Agenda 2063, the African Union’s 50-year strategic framework that serves as a blueprint to “The Africa We Want”.

Keywords

Gender equalityWomen in AfricaSustainable developmentSDGsAgenda 2063United Nations Conference on WomenBeijing Conference

Ogechi Adeola

is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria, and the Founder of Digital Business Tutelage for Women Empowerment in Africa Initiative. Her multi-dimensional research focuses on the advancement of knowledge across the intersection of marketing, tourism, entrepreneurship, and gender in sub-Saharan Africa.

End Abstract

Introduction

Gender inequality is apparent in politics, education, employment, social involvement, economic development, and human dignity across the globe (Hennig, 2019). It is also recognised as a major problem for development (Branisa, Klasen, Ziegler, Drechsler, & Jütting, 2014). Increased awareness of this injustice has galvanised global leaders’ efforts to support the adoption and implementation of policies that assure gender equality and empowerment of women. Considering the wide array of challenges for women, available statistics show that overall, gender inequality remains at high levels in the continent of Africa, compared to other regions of the world. As shown in Fig. 1.1, for example, in 2018, the ratio of female-to-male mean years of education received in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was a mere 68%, compared to a significant 90.7% in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and a massive 102.2% in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2019, the ratio of female-to-male labour force participation rate (%) in Sub-Saharan Africa was 83.9%, compared to 56.5% in East and South Asia. In developing countries, high female labour force participation rates usually reflect poverty; women earn far less than men and are more likely to be involved in unprotected jobs, such as domestic work (Verick, 2020). Interestingly, in 2020, the number of seats held by women in national parliament (%) across regions was relatively very low with SSA accounting for 23%. Thus, across regions and Africa inclusive, women’s leadership and political participation are limited. Women are under-represented as voters and in leading positions, despite their proven abilities and their equal right to democratic governance (UN Women, 2020).

Fig. 1.1

Gender equality across world regions (Data Source: Sachs et al., 2020)

This book assesses the progress Africa has made in achieving an inclusive social, political, and economic society, including gender equality, as proposed by the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The authors of this book acknowledge the realities of the continued marginalisation of women in Africa and offer recommendations for government policy makers and stakeholders at all levels, to initiate the kind of change that empowers women to be full contributors to their nation’s welfare.

The UN International Conferences on Women and the Beijing Declarations

A World Conference on Women has been offered four times by the United Nations (UN): 1975 in Mexico City with 133 nations in attendance, 1980 in Copenhagen attended by 145 member states, and 1985 in Nairobi with 157 member nations attending. These conferences focused on the creation and implementation of policies related to education, health, and employment. Strategies for achieving gender equality at national levels, overcoming cultural challenges, and promoting women’s participation in peace and development efforts were adopted.

Failure to achieve the goals identified by the previous conferences became the focus of the fourth UN Conference on Women—titled Action for Equality, Development, and Peace—held in Beijing in September 1995. In an unprecedented turn-around in the global agenda, the 189 countries attending the Beijing conference released a plan of action (hereinafter, the Beijing Declarations) that identified 12 topics requiring attention:

Women and poverty

Education and training of women

Women and health

Violence against women

Women and armed conflict

Women and the economy

Women in power and decision-making

Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women

Human rights of women

Women and the media

Women and the environment

The girl-child

The Beijing Declarations underlined the universality of human rights, that is, human rights are women’s right.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Over the years, the UN has introduced measures to ensure socio-economic development of nations, key among them being the inclusion of gender equality in the MDGs adopted in September 2000, with a 2015 target achievement date. MDGs were a set of eight goals, 18 measurable targets, and 48 indicators that included promoting gender equality and empowering women. Despite huge investments in MDG-related programmes, African countries, and indeed many parts of the world, were unable to attain the stated goals.

Some observers argue that MDGs were not achieved because the goals did not take appropriate cognisance of national contexts and implementation capacities (AbouZahr & Boerma, 2010; Fehling, Nelson, & Venkatapuram, 2013). Others claim that MDGS had an underlying political agenda and were poorly designed ab initio or that the focus was too narrow (Easterly, 2009; Fehling et al., 2013; Langford, 2010) (e.g., gender equality and women’s empowerment were narrowed down to apply only to the area of education and then only to primary education). The MDGs also failed to include political rights, promoted quick-fix solutions, focused on but had little input from developing countries, and did little to address extreme poverty (Easterly, 2009; Fehling et al., 2013; Langford, 2010; Sachs, 2012). Lack of timely and accurate data, especially in developing countries, was also a barrier to achieving MDGs by 2015 (Easterly, 2009).

Despite the shortfall in the full achievement of the MDGs, some measurable progress had been made globally in the areas of education, health, poverty reduction, and gender equality. However, the concept of sustainable dev...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction: Empowering African Women – Towards Achieving the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
• 2. Sustainability of Women’s Empowerment Initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa: Towards Achieving the UN’s 2030 Goals
• 3. Gender Parity Gaps and Poverty: Empowering African Women for No Poverty and Zero Hunger
• 4. Human Rights as Inalienable Rights: An Assessment of the Realities of African Women
• 5. Is Violence Against Women Systemic in Africa? An Enquiry to Change the Status Quo
• 6. Towards a Healthy Life for the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) Women
• 7. Religious Organisations and Quality Education for African Women: The Case of Nigeria
• 8. African Women’s Participation in Business and Politics: Challenges and Recommendations
• 9. Realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Entrepreneurial Activities of Women and Disadvantaged Groups
• 10. African Women in Academia Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Towards Attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals
• 11. Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Through Tourism in Africa: Towards Agenda 2030
• 12. Financial Inclusion as a Tool for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Africa: Achieving UN’s 2030 SDG
• 13. The Digital Gender Divide and Women’s Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Achieving the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
• 14. Positioning African Women for the United Nation’s 2030 Goals: A Way Forward
• Correction to: The Digital Gender Divide and Women’s Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Achieving the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
• Back Matter