Introduction
International Women’s Day on March 8 commemorates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women around the world.
This year, the day holds particular significance for women in Africa, who continue to face a multiplicity of barriers to equal opportunity but have also reached unprecedented milestones in empowerment and leadership.
In Africa, promising gains have been made in advancing women’s rights, such as increased girls’ access to education, declines in maternal mortality, and legal reforms for greater gender equality.
However, persistent gaps remain in access to resources, and disproportionate rates of poverty and violence continue to disproportionately impact many women in Africa.
Only by recognizing both the powerful progress and the profound disparities that still limit most African women’s freedoms and well-being can we understand the current state of gender equality in Africa and what is necessary to achieve the equitable future within reach.
This International Women’s Day, we must both celebrate African women’s accomplishments in overcoming injustices and reaffirm that urgent action is required to remove the comprehensive barriers to African women’s health, education, leadership, and economic participation.
By implementing concrete investments and policy/legal reforms, we can work to remove the barriers to African women’s equity and contribute to the realisation of the promise of sustainable development and shared prosperity that comes with women being empowered as equal partners in Africa’s future.
Successes in Empowering African Women
Substantial investments in African women and girls have paved the way for impressive milestones in education, health, and legal protections.
Access to primary education has increased for girls across Africa, and secondary school enrollment is also rising in many countries, enabling more girls to pursue higher education and professional opportunities.
Life-saving health services have reached millions more women, contributing to a 42% reduction in maternal mortality across sub-Saharan Africa since 1990.
Increased funding for contraception has enabled more women to choose if and when they become pregnant, giving women greater control over their health, education, and economic futures.
Policy and legal reforms have also boosted protections for women’s rights in countries from Uganda to Namibia. Over 20 African countries have raised the legal age of marriage to empower girls to stay in school, and property and inheritance laws have become more equitable in many places.
Such measures show that collective action to advance women’s legal and social status can yield a more just and prosperous society for all.
While gaps remain in women’s access to resources and representation, gains made through investments in African women and girls demonstrate the possibility of further progress toward gender equality when women are given equal opportunities to improve their lives, support their families, and participate in Africa’s future.
Barriers and Challenges Remaining
While promising gains have been made, equal opportunity remains out of reach for many women in Africa. Persistent gaps in access to resources and disproportionate rates of poverty, disease, and violence continue to disproportionately impact women and undermine their freedoms and well-being.
Significant gaps remain in women’s access to education and economic opportunity. Girls’ secondary school enrollment is just 47% in sub-Saharan Africa, limiting women’s career and leadership prospects.
Women make up nearly half of the workforce, but they earn less than men and are overrepresented in precarious, low-wage jobs. Such disparities in opportunity and unequal participation in the economy negatively impact individual women’s livelihoods and Africa’s development.
High rates of gender-based violence also pose severe barriers to women’s health and participation.
Nearly half of the women in some countries face intimate partner violence, and most countries have weak laws and enforcement around violence against women.
The harms of violence reverberate through women’s physical and mental health, household poverty, and lost economic potential. Tackling violence against women is vital to achieving women’s well-being and equity.
Such disparities demonstrate that increased investments and policy reforms alone will not achieve gender equality in Africa. Dismantling social and cultural attitudes that sanction women’s inequality is equally vital to creating a just and equitable society where women and girls can achieve their full human potential.
As one young woman activist, Jaha Dukureh, who campaigns against female genital mutilation, notes, “Until we change mindsets, the law isn’t enough.” This International Women’s Day, we must reaffirm that gender equality depends on addressing comprehensive barriers through concrete action to advance African women’s freedom, dignity, and power as change agents.
By working to eliminate disparities in access to resources and tackling harmful gender attitudes, we can help bring the future of equitable, sustainable development within reach when women are empowered as equal partners in Africa’s progress.
International Women’s Day: The potential for change
Substantial investments in women’s education, health, and leadership, as well as legal reforms, have shown the potential for progress in empowering African women.
By expanding proven initiatives, increasing funding for women’s opportunities, and taking bold action to advance women’s freedoms, the promise of sustainable development with equity and justice for all in Africa is within reach.
Increased funding to expand girls’ access to quality education and women’s access to reproductive health services and economic participation can help close opportunity gaps and save lives.
Targeted investments have already enabled more girls to pursue secondary education and their dreams, more women to choose if and when they become pregnant, and more female entrepreneurs to launch successful small businesses. Such initiatives must reach more women and girls to achieve wider progress.
Strengthening legal frameworks and enforcement around women’s rights can enhance protections from the violence and discrimination that undermine women’s ability to achieve their goals.
Comprehensive legal reforms have given women more excellent property, inheritance, and marital rights and raised the legal age of marriage to allow girls to pursue education. But enforcement of women’s rights remains weak in many countries, highlighting the need to prioritise the rule of law and justice for women.
However, legal reforms alone are insufficient without action to reform harmful social and cultural attitudes that sanction women’s inequality.
Life-saving health services and economic opportunities cannot benefit women who face barriers to entering male-dominated public spheres or threats of violence for exercising their rights. Tackling discriminatory gender norms is vital to creating opportunities for all.
According to women leaders like Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, “women are the key to sustainable peace and progress” in Africa and worldwide.
When we stand in solidarity with African women and girls to dismantle the obstacles to their empowerment, they can lift their families and communities and help realise the future of equitable, sustainable development within reach when women are empowered as equal partners.
This International Women’s Day, we reaffirm that gender equality depends on facilitating women’s and girls’ freedoms and amplifying their voices as partners in Africa’s transformation.
Conclusion
This International Women’s Day, we have a responsibility to stand up for the rights and opportunities of African women. The hard-won victories and disparities in gender equality across Africa show that accelerating progress requires tackling comprehensive barriers through actions that align with women’s stated priorities for change.
By investing in African women’s education and health and reforming economic barriers and biases as well as harmful social and cultural attitudes that limit their participation and potential, we can help close opportunity gaps and advance justice.
When we empower African women as agents and leaders of change, they can activate a cycle of opportunity that benefits their families, communities, and societies.
African women have demonstrated incredible bravery, tenacity, and leadership in the fight for equal rights and the creation of a more just future for all, despite the persistent obstacles.
Unleashing and promoting women’s enormous potential as equal partners in sustainable development is essential to creating a prosperous future for Africa.
If we stand in solidarity with African women in the common work of advancing the freedoms and power of all African women to shape the prosperous future within reach when women are equal partners and leaders in Africa’s advancement, the time for audacious action is now.
African women deserve nothing less, and our shared future depends on it.
Collective action can accelerate change, but achieving gender equality in Africa requires vision, political will, and investment from all to promote women’s rights as human rights and achieve sustainable development with equity and justice for all.
