Africa has demonstrated incredible successes but the journey remains long and progress has been slow, argues UNECA's Claver Gatete. by Claver Gatete
ADDIS
ABABA, Ethiopia, Nov 20 2024 (IPS) - Today, women in Africa generally have
better access to education, healthcare, and opportunities than ever before.
Yet, as they step into the world, a gap between them and their male
counterparts persists, a reminder that gender equality remains out of reach.
The
evidence is all around us. One in three women still experience physical or
sexual violence. Nearly every woman spends twice as much time on unpaid
household work as men. And not a single country offers women in Africa full
legal protection.
For me,
this reality stirs a mix of frustration and hope in recognizing how far we have
come and how far we have still to go.
Nearly 30
years ago, 189 world leaders left the Fourth World Conference on Women with
renewed hope, committing their countries to the Beijing Platform for Action, an
ambitious roadmap for ending gender inequality. Yet today, as countries conduct
their reviews, not a single country has achieved those commitments.
The 2023
Africa Gender Index report, produced by the United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa and the African Development Bank, reveals that we are only halfway
there on the road to gender equality. The journey remains long, and progress
has been agonizingly slow.
The
stakes could not be higher. Failing to end gender inequality incurs a heavy
price: economic stagnation, weakened social systems, instability, and wasted human
potential – all of which derail Africa’s progress towards the Sustainable
Development Goals. Without urgent action now, we risk sleepwalking into a
future marred by spiralling inequality, injustice and instability – an outcome
none of us can afford.
As we
reflect on the promises made in Beijing, all of us must hold ourselves
accountable and take bold political and financial steps to change our current
trajectories. To support this, our analysis points to five critical areas,
where concentrated efforts over the next five years could pave the way to
achieving gender equality by 2030.
First,
despite more women working full-time, they still shoulder most caregiving
responsibilities, suffer discrimination and deal with harmful stereotypes.
Governments and businesses must dismantle barriers to women’s career
progression. Experience teaches us that providing women with equal
opportunities is not just the right thing to do but also the smart approach,
with the potential to boost the GDP of emerging markets and developing
economies by an average of 23 percent.
Second,
as digitalization shapes the future of work, many women are being left behind.
In 2023, only 32 percent of women in Africa had access to the
internet. This divide translates into lost opportunities and costs African economies millions of dollars every
year. We urgently need to make digital services affordable and promote digital
literacy so that every woman has an equal opportunity to participate in the
digital world.
Third,
although maternal mortality rates have dropped, we cannot overlook the fact
that healthcare is still out of reach for too many women. Governments must
prioritize access to healthcare for every woman, regardless of where she lives
or her income status. Focusing on women’s health not only saves lives but also
makes economic sense. Every dollar invested in women’s health generates $3 in economic
growth.
Fourth,
while women in Africa now have near-equal access to primary, secondary, and
tertiary education, this has yet to translate into leadership roles or economic
power. Women’s parliamentary representation in Africa increased by only one
percent from 25 percent in 2021 to 26 percent in 2024. Without their voices in
leadership, we risk perpetuating the very inequalities we seek to eradicate.
Lastly,
we must confront the harmful cultural norms, gender-based violence and legal
barriers that restrict women’s access to resources and leadership positions.
Tackling these deeply entrenched issues not just requires robust enforcement of
laws and policies but also a societal shift, with responsibility shared by
policymakers, board members, community elders, faith leaders and people like
you and me.
None of
these issues are new. And while some may seem intractable, they are not
insurmountable. Africa has demonstrated incredible successes, from Tunisia’s
increase in women science graduates to Rwanda’s significant reduction in
cervical cancer cases and Namibia’s gender-equal parliament.
These
instances remind us that change is possible when we invest in what we know
works. In all of this, data plays an inextricable role in targeting and
tracking interventions based on evidence rather than opinion. However, when it
comes to women and girls, the data we need is too often missing, leaving too
many of their challenges invisible and unaddressed. If we are serious about
real progress, we must invest in gathering a fuller picture by bolstering our
data capabilities.
In a
world where pressing challenges dominate our attention, gender equality is
often pushed to a backseat. We can no longer afford complacency or business as
usual. If we stay on the current course, gender equality remains 300 years away. This is unacceptable.
We call
on leaders across all sectors to recommit to the goals of Beijing and invest in
real change to address the gender inequality that we know exists. Only then can
we bring equality from a distant hope to a reality within our lifetimes. I am
confident that this is possible, but only if we all act now.
Claver
Gatete is Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa