This July, the fourth Ukraine Recovery Conference highlighted the importance of empowering women to lead Ukraine’s reconstruction. But translating this into real-world achievements requires investment and political will. Here are three priorities for development partners. Continue reading Women in Ukraine’s Reconstruction: Policy Priorities after URC2025
Urbanisation has historically led more women to enter the workforce, but this has not been the case in South Asia. Could a focus on social norms explain why? Continue reading Urbanisation vs. tradition: The paradox of female labour force participation in South Asia
By Efe Ukala, Founder of ImpactHER
As Africa stands on the cusp of a digital revolution, a stark reality emerges: women and girls are being left behind. As the sun rises over Mbiri, Nigeria, Nkem is already awake in her family’s modest home on the outskirts of town. Nkem, 22, is preparing for her weekly ritual – a 90-minute walk to the city centre where she can access the Internet at a local café because she lacks a laptop, and her phone is not Internet-enabled. This journey, costing her nearly a day’s wages for just two hours online, exemplifies the digital divide facing millions of African women.
Continue reading “Is Africa’s digital revolution leaving women behind? “
By Estelle Loiseau and Carolin Beck, Policy analysts, OECD Development Centre.
What does it mean to be a “real” man? This complex question opens up a conversation about masculinities: those shared beliefs about how men – and women – should behave, often deeply ingrained within societies. These notions vary over time, place, and cultures, and can either support gender equality or uphold patriarchal norms that limit women’s rights and opportunities and restrict the potential of men and women alike.
Continue reading “Exploring Masculinities: Are Outdated Norms Holding Us Back?”
By Pierre de Boisséson, Economist, and Hyeshin Park, Gender Programme Co-ordinator, OECD Development Centre
We all have biases when it comes to gender roles. From pre-conceived ideas about the kinds of roles men and women take on at home to the types of jobs for which they are suited. Shockingly, a significant portion of the population believes that men should have more rights and opportunities than women. While easily overlooked, these outdated ideas actually have staggering socio-economic ripple effects – limiting women’s agency and costing societies billions, if not trillions, of dollars in lost GDP.
Continue reading “Breaking the chains: how to overcome gender biases for true equality”
By Madina M. Guloba, Development Economist and Senior Research Fellow at the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) in Kampala, Uganda
Due to gender bias and the patriarchal nature of many African economies, care work, especially unpaid, is considered a woman’s prerogative. This is often intertwined with negative social and cultural norms. In this context, is paternity leave a realistic solution to closing the gender care gap?
Continue reading “How to close the gender care gap in Sub Saharan Africa“
Par Deirdre Appel, Community Manager, Clearinghouse, PARIS21 et Fatoumata Ngom, Analyste des politiques, OCDE, Direction de la coopération pour le développement
Moins de la moitié des données nécessaires au suivi de l’ODD 5, « Parvenir à l’égalité des sexes et autonomiser toutes les femmes et les filles », sont disponibles. Les données sur le genre sont bien plus que des données ventilées par sexe. Selon la Division de la statistique des Nations Unies, elles comprennent des données concernant exclusivement ou principalement les femmes et les filles, couvrent un large éventail de questions et réalités socio-économiques, et donnent un aperçu significatif des différences existant en matière de bien-être entre les femmes et les hommes, les filles et les garçons. Lors de l’élaboration de politiques publiques, si l’on ne parvient pas à saisir et à mesurer les problèmes liés au genre à l’aide de données solides et actualisées, les plus vulnérables de la société resteront au bord du chemin. Avec des données sur le genre en quantité et qualité suffisantes, on peut élaborer des politiques plus équitables qui tiennent compte du facteur genre, contribuant ainsi à une prospérité économique durable pour tous.
Continue reading “Trois pistes d’action concrètes pour combler les lacunes en matière de données sur le genre”
By Gabriela Bucher, Executive Director, Oxfam International
The more we listen to women’s rights leaders across the world, the harder it is to ignore the reality that we have been witnessing profound and staggering setbacks to gender equality.
Continue reading “Spiralling gender inequality is not inevitable: here’s how we can fix it”
By Deirdre Appel, Clearinghouse Community Manager, PARIS21 and Fatoumata Ngom, Policy Analyst, OECD, Development Co-operation Directorate
Less than half the data needed to monitor SDG 5, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”, is available. Gender data are about much more than sex-disaggregated data. According to the UN Statistics Division, they include data that affect women and girls exclusively or primarily, they span a wide range of socio-economic issues, and they provide meaningful insight into differences in wellbeing across women and men, and girls and boys. Failing to capture and measure gender issues with sound and timely data when designing policies, leaves the most vulnerable further behind. More and better gender data contribute to more equitable and gender-informed policy, all of which contribute to sustainable economic prosperity for all.
Continue reading “Three ways to close the gender data gap”
By Isabel Whisson, Senior Manager, BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative and Bill Abrams, Senior Advisor, Leadership Collaborative to End Ultra-Poverty
Successive crises including COVID-19, climate change, conflicts, and the emerging global food crisis will force 75 to 95 million more people into extreme poverty this year compared to pre-pandemic estimates, according to the World Bank. With 700 million people already living in extreme poverty today (back to 2018 levels), people and societies urgently need social protection to cope with economic shocks.
Continue reading “How Graduation can complement social protection for women in extreme poverty”