Economic Management and Social Policy 85 22106 April1997 Findings reports on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member govemments in the Africa Region. It is published periodically WOR LD BA NK by the Knowledge, Information and Technology Center on behalf of the Region. Gender Strategies for IV AND Sub-Saharan Africa: An Overview It is increasingly recognized that This gender-based discrimination development in Sub-Saharan limits economic growth. It Africa (SSA) requires the full par- markedly affects macro-economic U ) ticipation of both men and women. policy and performance (supply Identifying priorities is critical to response), and has important success in mainstreaming gender repercussions for economic effi- strategies. The World bank's ciency and equity. _1 1 ^ Africa Region, in partnership with its clients and stakeholders, has Strategic Objective 1: lnvest in - _ developed a body of analytical and women's economic copacity by operational work on gender issues improving the gender-responsive- illustrating the direct relevance of ness of macroeconomic and see- speciflc gender characteristics of toral policies, increasing women's E - specific gender characteristics of effective access to fincial ser- SSA to the economic and social vices, with a particular focus on development of the region. agriculture, and nredrecting the priorities and programs of agricul- Strategic Gender Issues tural research nd extension to and Objectives ~~the specific needs of 'Africa!s F w and Objectives women farmers. Gender work in Africa suggests that priority be given to four inter- V connected priority issues and Key Issue 2: related strategic objectives. Gender Bias in Access to Education, Health and other Key Issue 1: Basic Social Services Women's Central Economic Role, Gender differentials persist at all especially in Agriculture and levels of education and the gap the Informal Sector widens at the higher levels. Low Women are a key economic levels of education and training, resource in Africa, comprising poor health and nutritional status, about 60 percent of the informal and limited access to resources - w sector and providing about 70 per- depress women's quality of life cent of total agricultural labor. and hinder economic efficiency Women's central position in eco- and growth. Female education is W ~ nomic production in SSA con- the investment with the highest trasts with the systematic discrim- social returns. It is the catalyst ination they face in accessing that increases the impact of other basic technologies and resources investments in health, nutrition, needed for their economic role. family planning, agriculture, industry, and infrastructure. Female education is recognized as one of the critical pathways to promote Key Issue 4: social and economic development. Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa indi- cates that although there have been improvements in female participation, Raising Women's Participation girls' and women's access to education remains limited. Unless urgent action is taken to enhance female education, the ambitious goals set for education across the Region will remain out of reach. Women in Afiica are systematical- ly under-represented in institu- Design of health interventions Poverty in Africa is compound- tions at the local and national must take into account women's ed by the complexity of household level, and have very little say in specific health needs, with a par- structures and relations in Africa. decision-making (see flgure 2). ticular focus on reproductive Evidence suggests great diversity Gender barriers limit women's par- health, AIDS, and gender violence, in the structure and composition ticipation and reinforce power their multiple responsibilities, and of households, where men and gaps. As civil society emerges, the demands on their time. women have largely separate women's organizations constitute sources and uses of income and an important social capital ;Strategic Objectiv 2:invI t in resources. This often leads to resource for strengthening the women's 1uiman Udevelopmnt by marked inequality in intra-house- social institutions necessary for a significantly raising feikiale 111C hold resource allocation. market economy. Women consti- ipation din edcatin, andt0 theirtute an important source of opin- utris tion ajid j4 ; S0tategic Objctie 0 03: Reduce; ion (and opposition) on the sub- seices. w e te cs mint by ject of economic adjustment in expandingeffectlveacces to rural Africa, and hearing their voices water supply and faXelwood tO and listening to their needs is Key Issue 3: gy (;ciig essential for endorsement of suc- Time Poverty-A Critical Gender por tak) and cessful economic reform in Africa. Dimension of Poverty in Africa I f e f Poverty in Africa is pervasive and growing. Regional analysis recog- Figure 1: Cameroon-Weekly Hours of Labor by Activity and Gender nizes that growth is necessary but that the pattern of growth is cru- Hour cial for sustainable poverty reduc- Other Productive tion. Poverty in Africa has an 70 - Activities important, if difficult to quantify, 60_ gender dimension. A key compo- 60 _ Palm Wine Production nent of female poverty in Africa is 50 - "time poverty," as there are signif- Cocoa Production icant time allocation differentials 40 - ! _ ~~~Food Transformation between men and women. Women 30 - _ _ work longer hours than men (see 2Food Production figure 1) and their workload, 20 derived from simultaneously car- 10 - Domestic Labor rying out multiple roles, imposes severe time burdens and harsh 0 trade-offs, with important eco- Men Women nomic and welfare costs. Balancing competing time uses in The time spent by an average household on domestic transport activities ranges from 1,150 to 1,490 hours per annum. These figures equate to a time a framework of almost total input for an average adult female ranging from just under 1 hour to 2 hours inelasticity of time allocation pre- 20 minutes every day. Water, flrewood, and crops for grinding are transport- sents a particular challenge to ed predominantly by women on foot, the load normally being carried on the reducing poverty in Africa. head. Village transport surveys in Ghana and Tanzania show that women spend nearly three times as much time in transport activities compared with men, and they transport about four times as much in volume. Strategtc Objective 4: Support Figure 2: C6te d'lvoire-Participation of Men and Women in Public Life the systemat participation of 1995/96 0 20 40 60 80 100% women at al levels (macro sec- : toral. microl in identifyifg 'te gender-differentated impacts of - E. policies and programs, and X Unv sity defning and inplemeating ways - . _. - l to overme gender barriers in MAYo access to economic resources, l lI and in human development Jde_ ....... ,,r-. oe Synergy and Complementarity I, Us . Men among Strategic Gender _ _ - -- . Objectives ..-_ Natnon al Ass ml...--,. Each of these strategic objectives S_ has an important contribution to Eop1i& ocial make to achieving the goal of sus- m _ _ l tainable poverty reduction. There Ministrs _____ _ are important interconnections and trade-offs among economic production, child bearing and rear- To ensure that gender issues Level 2: Field Focus ing, and household/ community are adequately and appropriately A key priority is to support effec- management responsibilities that integrated into Bank interven- tive decentralization of many oper- assume particular importance tions, the Africa Region intends to ational tasks and responsibilities given the simultaneous competing strengthen institutional recogni- to the field, as part of the intensi- claims on women's labor time. tion of operational responsibili- fled client orientation. Dialogue From a gender perspective, inter- ties, and greater accountability, at with grassroots women's groups sectoral linkages, as between three interconnected levels. and NGOs is a critical activity girls' education and domestic here. This will include institution- tasks (especially water provision), Level 1: Country Focus al responsibility for networking rural development and transport, Country focus and ownership of and fostering collaboration with and the population/agriculture/ the gender strategy by clients are women's organizations and NGOs. environment "nexus," are critical. central to success. Speciflc objec- The contribution of these strategic tives and interventions will be tai- Level 3: Regional Focus objectives to development and lored to the different needs and Gender concerns will be poverty reduction in Africa can be priorities of individual countries. addressed as economic and insti- greatly amplified through concur- Gender analysis will be included in tutional reform issues and not rent actions in each of these areas, the process of incorporating social just as social (or social sector) so that multiple and mutually rein- analysis and participation into the concerns. Key tasks will be to: forcing beneflts can be achieved. Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), in operations identified as () specify monitorable gender Institutionalizing and Operation- requiring more intensive social performance indicators for pri- alizing Gender Work in SSA assessment (SA), and in address- ority operations and sectors; To mainstream gender systemati- ing war-to-peace transition issues. O develop operational proce- cally, mitheBankgendernsystemat- At the country level, institution- dures, tools, and techniques cally, the Bank will invest pro al arrangements, will be defined for for mainstreaming gender into capacity, tools, and techniques advocacy, reporting, and backstop- work programs; aimed Y enabling stafftorespondping on gender. This country-level t3 expand gender training for to both Regional and Bankwide focus on gender (and poverty) World Bank staff; and gender ommRegitment mnBankde t issues will be closely integrated ® develop guidelines and good gender Commitments made to with efforts to address the full practice examples in key their partner governments and range of social development issues. areas. Other stakeholders. For more information, and for copies of the Regional Gender Action Plan, please contact Mark Blackden, Regional Gender Coordinator, Room J-2-127, Institutional and Social Policy Group, Africa Region. Telephone: 202-473-7555. Emafl:MBLACKDEN@WORLDBANK.ORG Publications referred to in the text include: Odaga and Heneveld. 1995 Girls and Schools in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank; C. Malmberg-Calvo. 1994. Case Study on the Role of Women in Rural Transport: Access of Women to Domestic Facilities. World Bank; Bryceson, Fahy and Howe. 1992. African Rural Households and Transport: Reducing the Burden on Women? International Institute for Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering. Delft, The Netherlands. F-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. -.0 * _0__ Findings would also be of interest to: L ,de s a are Institution __________________ Eio,Fnig Address : noeg lnfom0or nC _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~ ~~~E- m in^: p m o hian @ w orld ba n k.o: rg. i t0;it;