(2022-2024) supported by William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
PEP partnered with the Hewlett Foundation to establish capacity and processes for gender-sensitive policy practice and advocacy in Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Tanzania. The goal of the initiative was to promote sustainable changes in the target countries by implementing macroeconomic policies that promoted gender equality and empowered women. Local PEP researchers explored the most impactful and relevant policy solutions tailored in response to each country’s unique context. To identify these, researchers mainly used the Computable General Equilibrium model (CGE) to simulate and analyze the impacts of potential policy solutions in each country to guide future interventions. The policy solutions suggested addressed key barriers faced by women, including being employed in informal sector work with negligible social security; lack of reliable infrastructure, such as water, electricity and transport systems; and disproportionate amount of childcare and domestic responsibilities.
Find out more about the challenges and solutions across countries in the Executive Director’s LinkedIn Newsletter – The state must integrate gender equality in national macroeconomic policies
Find out more about findings from each country below.
Gender inequality in Burkina Faso is pronounced, particularly in the labor market, where women are underrepresented in formal employment and overburdened with domestic responsibilities. A team of local PEP researchers found that subsidizing childcare services significantly increases women’s employment, particularly for skilled women, while improving household well-being. In contrast, increasing cash transfers to poor rural households, though boosting consumption, reduces women’s participation in the workforce. Providing childcare subsidies would empower women by lowering their domestic burden and encouraging active participation in the labor market, leading to broader economic benefits.
Gender inequality is a key issue in Cameroon. Women have limited access to well-paying and stable jobs that could increase their economic empowerment. This is partly because they tend to have lower education levels than men and represent the majority of informal (and thus vulnerable) workers in agriculture. A team of local PEP researchers found that subsidizing tuition fees for women in vocational and scientific education, and facilitating women’s access to agricultural land through land reform can advance women’s economic empowerment, contributing to the country’s structural transformation. Combining these two policies would improve workforce quality, boost agricultural production, and stimulate industrial growth.
Working women in Tanzania are disproportionately employed in the informal sector where low wages and the lack of social protection exacerbates their vulnerability and marginalization. Despite a variety of government programs to improve gender equality for inclusive economic growth, gender-based inequalities in the labour market persist. A team of local PEP researchers found that gender-responsive macroeconomic policies are crucial to reducing labour market gender inequalities. The team showed that investing in road infrastructure facilitates women’s access to the labour market and providing wage subsidies for formal sector activities that mostly employ women helps more women transition to formal sector work.
