How well-meant gender policies are failing East African women
A woman working from home. Women's productivity, as they work from home, is compromised by additional workload of unpaid care.
What you need to know:
The Grow project researches gender gaps in East Africa’s workforce, advocating policy reforms to enhance women’s economic empowerment and address unpaid care work disparities.
The Grow project fosters gender equality by investigating employment segregation, unpaid care, and policy barriers, sharing insights to shape inclusive economic policies in East Africa.
Gender segregation in employment, unpaid care work and women’s low participation in economic ventures have become critical issues of public discourse. A lot of work has been done, including enactment of affirmative policies, to end the disparities and create an equal and fair society where men and women play complementary roles at the household and benefit from socioeconomic enterprises they are engaged in. However, challenges persist.
This debate inspired a research project supported by the Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Canada’s International Development Research Centre and implemented in five countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Known as the Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (Grow Phase II) - East Africa, the initiative supported 15 projects focusing on research and policy interventions. Out of these, 11 were research projects that conducted investigations on interventions to reduce and redistribute unpaid care work and secondly, tackle continued labour market segregation and employment gender gaps.
The other four projects were conducted in Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda and examined novel approaches and tools for providing guidance on formulation and implementation of appropriate care policies.
Among others, the research projects raised concerns about the implementation of the 30 per cent affirmative action for women in public procurement. Whereas most countries in the region, Kenya included, had enacted the affirmative policy, its implementation was marred by stringent and prohibitive regulations that locked out women, youth and people living with disability. Thus, the researchers call for a review of such policies to eliminate barriers that undermined otherwise progressive policies.
Some of the research projects were carried out by Strathmore University Business School, the Partnership for Economic Policy, Makerere University and Economic Policy Research Centre, African Population Health Research Centre, the Africa Freedom of Information Centre, Economic and Social Research Foundation, and the Network of Ethiopian Women’s Association, among others.
Launched in 2020 to spur transformative change and advance gender equality in the world of work in Eastern Africa, the project created partnerships between local communities, public and private sector actors and civil society organisations aimed at identifying and scaling successful solutions to achieve women’s economic empowerment and gender equality in the world of work. Policy engagement was an integral component of moving evidence into policy and practice.
The Grow project generated evidence on and knowledge of appropriate interventions that can support women's economic empowerment. Many lessons were learnt, which have a positive bearing on policy. These reports will be discussed at a workshop scheduled to take place in Nairobi from Wednesday to Friday next week, at the Trademark Hotel.
Coming on the eve of International Women’s International Day, the workshop offers an opportunity to share research outcomes and experiences in implementing projects that can support women’s economic empowerment. Participants include grantees, government officials, private sector, researchers, civil society organisations and others involved in campaigns to promote gender equality.
The workshop seeks to influence policy and practice by showcasing evidence from transformative interventions within study countries and in broader global contexts. The knowledge products are foundational resources for evidence-based decision-making, fostering inclusive growth and gender equity initiatives worldwide. The workshop will create a forum for sharing results and insights from the research projects, initiating discussions on scaling successful interventions and applying research findings.
