Gender and Economic Adjustment in Sub-Saharan Africa
Gender bias, or "neutrality" in the underlying concepts, and tools of economics, has led to "invisibility" of women's economic, and non-economic work, thus, to an incomplete picture of total economic activity. This is predo...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/1994/06/1620932/gender-economic-adjustment-sub-saharan-africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10016 |
| Summary: | Gender bias, or "neutrality"
in the underlying concepts, and tools of economics, has led
to "invisibility" of women's economic, and
non-economic work, thus, to an incomplete picture of total
economic activity. This is predominantly so in Africa, where
women articulated their concern regarding the social costs
of adjustment, and the impact of adjustment on women. This
drove to consolidating the adjustment experience with
documented findings on the effects of structural adjustment,
and to address the absence of attention to gender in
up-stream macroeconomic analysis, and policy formulation,
which are at the core of designing adjustment programs, and
sectoral strategies. The note reviews the implications, or
lack thereof, in considering gender as a distinguishing
factor in the design of economic adjustment measures, whose
analysis suggests that the improvement in the content of
adjustment to include social dimensions, still has to go
farther in incorporating gender concerns. In moving toward
action in adjustment, it is critical that local, and
international capacity be built to undertake relevant gender
analysis, focusing among others, on the gender-exclusionary
bias of economic, and financial services, such as
agricultural research and extension, and enterprise credit.
Moreover, public expenditure analysis could provide the
basis for an integrated policy, where the inclusion of
gender-focused projects in the expenditure program is
recommended, as a means of removing constraints limiting
women's response to improved policy. |
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