The Intersection of Gender Equality and Sustainable Development in African Communities
Posted: 12 August, 2024 Filed under: Elim Shanko, Keten Abebe | Tags: African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), Agenda 2063, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), egalitarian involvement, environmental degradation, gender discrimination, gender equality, gender parity, international treaty, labour exploitation, mitigation, National climate change policies (NCCPs), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), natural resources, Paris Agreement, policy, poverty, quality of life, sub-Saharan Africa, sustainable development, United Nations’ (UN) Paris Agreement (PA), women's rights Leave a comment |
Author: Keten Abebe Intern, RA Consulting |
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Author: Elim Shanko Sustainable development consultant, RA Consulting |
Introduction
As of 2019, approximately 60% of employed women within Sub-Saharan Africa worked in agriculture, a field gravely impacted by corporations’ exhaustive use of natural resources. The financialisaton and depletion of natural resources within these African communities leads many women to experience poverty and destitute living conditions. Approximately 62.8% of women worldwide who live in extreme poverty reside in Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, the reality of worsening environmental conditions exacerbates the deterioration of women’s quality of life. According to the UN Women’s Organisation, African women often overly endure labour exploitation within capitalist markets, leading to environmental degradation and unsustainable development practices to persist among financially driven corporations. Similarly, a brief submitted to the 2015 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) emphasises the impracticality of achieving sustainable development within African communities if the alienation of half of the population (women and girls) persists socially, economically and politically. Ultimately, sustainable development within African communities cannot be achieved without gender parity.
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