Women’s empowerment and promoting women’s rights have emerged as a part of a major global movement and are continuing to break new ground in recent years. According to UN Women and SDG 5, women and girls, everywhere, must have equal rights and opportunity, and be able to live free of violence and discrimination. Women’s equality and empowerment is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, but also integral to all dimensions of inclusive and sustainable development.
According to a publication by the UN Women on Women and Sustainable goals it is important to note that women do 2.6 times more unpaid care and domestic work than men. While families, societies and economies depend on this work, for women, it leads to lower earnings and less time to engage in non-work activities. In addition to equal distribution of economic resources, which is not only a right, but accelerates development in multiple areas, there needs to be a fair balance of responsibility for unpaid care work between men and women.
Despite progress made over time, Women continue to experience significant gaps in terms of poverty, labour market and wages, as well as participation in private and public decision-making. The private sector - in particular the small, medium-sized and microenterprise sector (SME) – is crucial in promoting economic growth and generating jobs for not only women but also youth in society.
According to FAO, households in all societies differentiate various household activities and responsibilities by gender. For women, production and reproduction are two interlinked activities, and much of the work women do, although productive, is unpaid. Gender disparities in access to economic resources, including credit, land and economic power-sharing, directly affect women's potential for achieving the kind of economic autonomy they need to provide a better quality of life for themselves and their dependants. Apart from the agricultural focus, discrimination against women in employment is also frequent outside the agricultural sector, and has an impact on the kinds of work, careers and career advancement that women can expect.
According to World Vision, empowering women is essential to the health and social development of families, communities and countries. When women are living safe, fulfilled and productive lives, they can reach their full potential. contributing their skills to the workforce and can raise happier and healthier children. They are also able to help fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large.
According to UN Women, investing in women’s economic empowerment sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth. Women make enormous contributions to economies, whether in businesses, on farms, as entrepreneurs or employees, or by doing unpaid care work at home. But they also remain disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination and exploitation.
According to a recent review by the UN on progress made on SDG 5, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could reverse the limited progress that has been made on gender equality and women’s rights. The coronavirus outbreak exacerbates existing inequalities for women and girls across every sphere – from health and the economy, to security and social protection. Women play a disproportionate role in responding to the virus, including as frontline healthcare workers and carers at home. Women’s unpaid care work has increased significantly as a result of school closures and the increased needs of older people. Women are also harder hit by the economic impacts of COVID-19, as they disproportionately work in insecure labour markets. Nearly 60 percent of women work in the informal economy, which puts them at greater risk of falling into poverty.
By empowering women, PELEP seeks to help them gain opportunities so that they can be able to raise their voices and speak up for their rights, their childrens’ rights and also advocate for their communities rights and development. This will indirectly enable them to increase their social standing, economic capabilities and feed this into future generations.
Research by: Marlene Kawira