The African woman is at the heart of Africa’s development. She is at the centre of all that gives life to Africa and Africans: childbirth, home care, agriculture, peacebuilding, just to name a few. Yet, much has been left undone to fully and adequately integrate her into all systematic processes that propel Africa for a prosperous future.

Challenges facing African women Documented evidence holds that women are highly marginalised in our society. Girl children are being forced into early marriages or into becoming sex slaves, deprived of basic education and forced into hard labour.

The country of Niger in West Africa is noted for having the highest incidence of child marriages in the world, with 77% of the underage girls currently married. One in three girls is married before the age of 15, according to UNICEF.

In the agricultural sector, women perform 66% of the world’s work, produce 50% of the food we consume but earn 10% of the income generated from the sector and own 1% of the property.

Worst still, the perception of women’s role in building a better Africa is very poor. Majority of our young men in contemporary African society, though seemingly knowledgeable and educated, adamantly remain on the archaic African inflection that seriously restricts and underrates the full blown socio-cultural, economic and political potentials of the woman.

“Her place is the kitchen and her duty is the home. Her education (even if highly professional and superb) dwindles to unjustified subservience and restricted to the kids”, they say. Very unfortunate! Isn’t it?

Women often face gender-specific challenges to full participation in the labour force, which may require policy interventions beyond those aimed at promoting economic growth and the overall efficiency of our continent’s work force.

In sum, women are not given satisfactory opportunities, if not equal opportunities as their male contemporaries.

Causes Religion, tradition and culture partly account for this while poverty, gender inequality and weak legislation add fuel to this violation of girl's and women’s rights. We need to work together as men and women, together with all stakeholders and strategise to put an end to this as a way of propelling growth and development in Africa.

Policies can influence the economic incentives and social norms that determine women’s strategic contribution to promote a better future for Africa.

Despite these socio-cultural and structural challenges that prevent the African woman’s possibility to attain her full potential, they are endowed with a natural ability and potential to drive Africa’s development engine: a role they have played relentlessly over the years.

Undoubtedly, women can play pivotal roles in the development of our continent.

Recommendations We therefore need to holistically support the African woman to contribute in building a better Africa that we are unanimously constructing. It is therefore important for all sectors of our society to consider the following:

Primarily, our women in Africa should be given more opportunities to express their needs, concerns, challenges and successes. These should be adequately documented and used to influence policies in a way that will positively affect the lives of African women and the continent at large; Women should be well equipped with tools and resources to achieve their full potentials; They should be provided with a conducive environment to enable them explore their competencies and discover the key areas in which they have the best savoire-faire; In political processes, the playing field should be level. Women should be given a fair chance in political and democratic processes. Thus, (1) structural mechanisms should be put in place to facilitate their political participation, (2) They should be motivated to contest for positions of political authority, and, (3) Women should be challenged to uphold leadership roles and be adequately supported to deliver on duty. From a socio-cultural perspective, practices should be revised, softened and or abolished to unlock the barriers that hinder the development and empowerment of the African girl child and woman in our society.

Governments should put in place measures to attain the 30% quota for gender inclusiveness and representation in government. Let other countries learn from the Rwandan example, which has attained this. And it is benefitting their economy.

Way Forward The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, drew attention to the persisting inequality between men and women in decision-making.

The Beijing Platform for Action emphasised that “women’s equal participation in decision making is not only a demand for justice or democracy, but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women’s interests to be taken into account.

Some of these interests include:

Access to quality education for their children. I mean ALL their children, not girls only nor boys only; ALL Availability of portable water in their communities Access to quality healthcare for ALL Peace and security in their communities Access to good roads, electricity and other social goods and services. These requests are not for themselves only, but for the better good of their society.

Therefore, for the African woman to play a more active role and contribute effectively and more significantly towards Africa’s development, WE (governments, businesses, civil society, churches, media, traditional authorities, communities, family, men and most importantly, women themselves) MUST TAKE into account WOMEN’S INTERESTS in all dimensions in every decision making process and at all levels that affect Africa’s future and growth.

However, women must motivate themselves and their contemporaries to take up positions that will put them on the decision making table. It is only when they will sit at pal on the decision making table that they can meaningfully shape decisions that would positively affect them, and most importantly, contribute in positioning the African women in her deserved position.

Thank you. The writer is the Communications and Information Officer of the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI)

Email: info@wacsi.org