Week Six Notes: Gender & Youth
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Reading Notes
Reading One: Gender and Governance
SOURCE: Agbalajobi, “Gender and Governance”, in Oloruntoba and Falola, The Palgrave
Handbook of African Politics, Governance and Development (Palgrave, 2018), chapter 31.
SUMMARY: summarizes ~13 pages into 5.
Introduction
● Gender issues shape the lives of people in every society, influencing all aspects of our lives
● Gender issues affect all areas of governance.
● Women have been marginalized over time in political processes and governance in general,
leading to inequitable representation and participation in institutional structures in almost all
sectors.
● Gender inequality is not particular to Africa; it is a global phenomenon.
● In many cultures, women are relegated to the background, cultural norms dictate every aspect of
their lives, from their level of participation in societal affairs to their level of engagement with
their male counterparts.
● Culture also defines the rights of women relative to men.
● Religion has also exacerbated gender disparity.
● Islam tends to “quiet” women
● The Christian Bible exhorts women to “submit” to their husbands.
● Traditional or indigenous religions are no different
● In Africa, the societal stereotype is that a woman’s traditional role and highest decision-making
position is in her family.
● However, there is a changing trend in the orientation of gender roles in society.
● Going further back into history, there are several examples of matrilineal societies where women
ruled or had leadership roles in governance structures.
○ Women were regents, co-regents, city founders, army commanders, officers and soldiers,
and bodyguards.
○ For example, in West Africa in the 15th century, Queen Amina ruled the Kingdom of
Songhai in midNiger. Oral traditions note that Queen Amina was a warrior who waged
successful campaigns against neighboring territories.
● Colonialism made gender discrimination more pronounced by replacing the traditional
political system where women’s organizations were recognized with one that violated their
democratic rights.
● African feminism was launched in the early twentieth century by women such as:
○ Adelaide Casely-Hayford and Charlotte Maxeke, who in 1918 founded the Bantu
Women’s League in South Africa
○ Huda Sharawi, who in 1923 established the Egyptian Feminist Union.
● Modern African feminism was solidified during the landmark United Nations (UN) Decade for
Women (1975–1985) which resulted in feminist activism and scholarship.
● Today, at the forefront of using activism, knowledge, and creativity to change situations that
affect women negatively are African feminists, scholars, activists, artists, and politicians such as:
○ Leymah Gbowee, Joyce Banda, Dana, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
○ Feminist organizations such as the African Feminist Forum and the African Gender
Institute.
, Gender Inequality: Meaning and Why It Matters for Governance in Africa
● Gender is viewed as a social construct that asserts the expectations, capabilities, and
responsibilities of men and women are not always biologically determined gender roles
○ They are significantly defined, structurally and culturally, in ways that create, reinforce,
and perpetuate relationships of male dominance and female subordination.
● The nature and extent of the discrimination vary considerably across countries and regions, but
the patterns are striking.
● UNDP 2013: Gender inequality is perpetuated through differential access to and control over
material resources and through gender norms and stereotypes that reinforce gendered identities
and constrain the behavior of women and men in ways that lead to inequality
○ This has hugely and negatively affected development.
How do we reconcile gender inequality based on the African experience and emerging realities?
● Although Article 4 of the African Union Charter unambiguously recognizes legal gender
equality for all Africans, the application of this article has varied from one country to another.
● Out of 54 countries in Africa, some (10 in specific) have made significant progress in reducing
the gender gulf, with the aim of totally eliminating the gap and inequality that the female
gender has suffered in the hands of their male counterparts as regards key positions of
decision-making:
○ Rwanda, Namibia, South Africa, Burundi, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Cape Verde,
Botswana, and Zimbabwe.
● According to a UNDP 2016 report: economic and social discrimination against women is costing
Africa more than US$100 billion a year.
○ The report found that African women across the board are denied the same kind of
economic, social, and political opportunities that men enjoy.
○ Women lose out when it comes to education, work, and health.
● African women have proved to be active producers and entrepreneurs. They make up a large
percentage of the agricultural labor force and they run the majority of businesses in the informal
sector - mainly occupied with subsistence farming.
● It is vital to boost their productive capacity so that they can generate more income for
themselves and their households, and by achieving this for themselves and their families they are
directly contributing to national integration (which starts with the family) and growth in gross
domestic product (GDP).
● Verloo (2011) has argued that to place the elimination of gender inequality at the core of our
concerns is to place attention on the intersections of gender with other inequalities in order to
achieve full equality for all.
Key Decision-Making Positions Occupied by Women in Africa
● Since the mid-1990s, there has been an increase in women’s political participation; women are
becoming more engaged in a variety of institutions from local government to legislatures, and
even the executive.
● Africa is a global leader in women’s parliamentary representation. additionally, African
countries have some of the world’s highest rates of gender representation.
○ Based on the 2014 rankings of countries with the most women in parliament in the
world: Seychelles: 43.8%, Senegal: 42.7%, and South Africa: 41.9%.
○ Women in the United States hold 19.3% of the seats in the House and 20% in the Senate.
