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11. Entrepreneurship, Youths, and Women Economic Inclusion in Cameroon

Author:
Laurent Brice Nsengue, Bin Joachem Meh, and Jean-Cedric Kouam
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Bentham’s theory of utilitarian morality leads us to know that the purpose of economic activity is to ensure social progress for the happiness of the greatest number. Thus, excluding people from an economic system without considering their interests is considered a destruction of the common good. According to the United Nations (1962), population is one of the most important factors of economic productivity, as it influences the rate of development of a country. Women represent 49.6% of the world’s population and young people aged 10 to 24 represent 15.5% of the world’s population (UN World Youth Report, 2020; World Bank, 2020). In Cameroon, youth and women represent more than 60% of the population, but remain the most economically excluded (BUCREP, 2005). This reality appears to be a challenge for a country that wants to be an emerging country by 2035. The main objective of this paper is to show the role that entrepreneurial development could play in promoting the economic inclusion of youth and women in Cameroon. It is expected to raise awareness among public authorities as well as the private sector of the importance of economic inclusion of youth and women through entrepreneurship development. Based on studies carried out by credible international and local institutions, we focus on the challenges of entrepreneurship in the context of the economic inclusion of youth and women and the opportunity of entrepreneurship for the economic inclusion of young people and women in Cameroon.
Topic:
Economics, Women, Entrepreneurship, Discrimination, Youth, Equality, and Inclusion
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

12. Rising to the Challenge: Building Peaceful, Just, Equal and Inclusive Societies in a Divided World

Author:
David Andersson
Publication Date:
07-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
Abstract:
This report analyzes the global state of play of SDG16+ while identifying tangible, cross-cutting solutions to advance its targets of peace, justice, equality, and inclusion universally. With both an eye to the SDG Summit and set against a context of SDGs backsliding and a polycrisis, it lays out six strategic approaches by which SDG16+ can and has been advanced, drawing upon regional, national, and subnational examples. These approaches highlight efforts to rebuild trust and reduce polarization, with people-centered policies speaking lived daily realities; demonstrate the need to build evidence on SDG16+ interlinkages and their application in practice, with better data as a driver for innovative change; unpack participatory approaches, including the meaningful inclusion of civil society and subnational actors, and make clear the need for smarter SDG16+ financing. It concludes with opportunities for urgently needed advocacy, policy development, and collaboration on SDG16+ in the immediate and medium terms within UN and IFI contexts. This publication is designed to complement other recent SDG16+ community partner reports, with key messages reflecting both an HLPF Pathfinders Member States Statement (with Colombia and Switzerland), as well as the statement prepared by the Global SDG16+ Coalition, co-drafted by the Pathfinders Secretariat with other members of the Coalition.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Sustainable Development Goals, Equality, and Inclusion
Political Geography:
Global Focus

13. The Gendered Nature of Poverty: Data, Evidence and Policy Recommendations

Author:
Francesco Burchi and Daniele Malerba
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:
Poverty and gender equality are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda and are key strategic areas for Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It has been often argued that poverty is gendered: at the 1995 UN World Conference on Women, 70 per cent of the world’s poor was said to be female. However, that figure is not backed by sound scientific evidence. There are several challenges to examining the relationship between gender and poverty. The main one is that monetary poverty is calculated at the household level: it is not possible to distinguish the poverty status of different household members. Theoretically, it is possible to analyse poverty by gender by focusing on non-monetary dimensions, as several feminist scholars advocate. However, the most well-known indices of multidimensional poverty have the same problems as those for income poverty: they are computed at the household level. Therefore, we do not really know if – or to what extent – poverty is gendered. Recent studies conducted by IDOS researchers help fill this gap by analysing gender disparities in multidimensional poverty in more than 80 low- and middle-income countries and using individual-level indices, which encompass three dimensions: education, health and employment. This policy brief summarises the main findings of the IDOS studies and presents key policy recommendations. The research reveals the female face of poverty. In recent years, female multidimensional poverty has been higher than male multidimensional poverty almost everywhere: on average, the former is about 70 per cent higher than the latter. Depending on the specific poverty index used, women make up between 54 and 63 per cent of the impoverished population. Gender disparities vary substantially across the world: the largest disparities are visible in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South Asia. The research also shows that from the late 1990s/early 2000s most countries experienced increased gender disparities in poverty, a process often referred to as the “feminisation of poverty”. This largely occurred in Europe and Central Asia, as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean. The very large gender disparities in MENA and South Asia have persisted for decades. The studies also find that the increase in gender disparities occurred especially in rural areas and was mostly driven by an increase in disparities in access to paid employment. To tackle the gendered nature of poverty, we recommend: • Incentivising women’s employment and pro-moting the care economy. Care policies can partly free women from their care duties and/or recognise the economic value of care work, thereby increasing employment opportunities for women. Expanding the (professional) care sector – and more generally, the service sector – also creates job opportunities for women. • Adopting gender-responsive social protection. Cash transfers can benefit women in particular but should include clear gender-equality goals and be designed to challenge existing gender norms (rather than reinforce them). • Tackling gender norms. Eliminating discriminatory laws and regulations can help in the short term; education and awareness campaigns are critical in the long run. • Advocating for and realising the (gender) data revolution. It is necessary to invest in ad-hoc data collection focused on individual and female experiences of poverty.
Topic:
Poverty, Equality, Gender, and Development Policy
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

14. Full, Equal, Meaningful, and Safe: Creating Enabling Environments for Women’s Participation in Libya

Author:
Catherine Turner and Aisling Swaine
Publication Date:
07-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
Historically, the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda’s four pillars—prevention, protection, participation, and relief and recovery—have largely developed along separate trajectories. This has started to change with the UN Security Council’s recent progress in recognizing the link between women’s participation in peace and security and their protection, as well as the need to create “enabling environments” for women’s participation. Nonetheless, there is often a gap between international frameworks on participation and protection and the realities experienced by women, especially in conflict-affected contexts. To address that gap, this paper analyzes the experiences of women in Libya and the obstacles they face when participating in peace and security and political processes. Using an ecological framework, it details the risks that women who participate encounter at six levels: individual, interpersonal, community, national institutional, societal, and global institutional. Through this analysis, the report deepens the evidence for and understanding of the critical relationship between protection and participation, broadens analysis of and provides pointers for the mainstreaming of WPS in UN mission mandates, and provides a new framework to advance the creation of safe and enabling environments for women’s participation. In order to advance women’s full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation, the report offers the following recommendations. For the Security Council and member states: Continue to build on progress on mainstreaming WPS in mission mandates; Prioritize the implementation of Resolution 2493’s provision on creating “enabling environments” for women’s participation; and Ensure gender advisers with context-specific expertise are mandated and properly resourced in all UN missions. For UN missions, agencies, and partners: Conduct context-specific participation and protection analyses; Strengthen coordination between the UN missions, UN agencies, and other international organizations working on related issues to address the full range of protection-related barriers to women’s participation; and Ensure a gender-sensitive approach to the use of digital tools for participation to reflect the increased risks to women in online environments.
Topic:
Security, Women, Peace, Participation, Equality, and WPS
Political Geography:
Libya and North Africa

15. Girls’ Education and Women’s Equality: How to Get More out of the World’s Most Promising Investment

Author:
Shelby Carvalho and David Evans
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
To hear talk of it, you might think educating girls is a silver bullet to solve all the world’s ills. A large and still growing collection of research demonstrates the wide-ranging benefits of girls’ education. Recent research has nuanced some of those findings, but the fundamental result stands: Educating girls is good for girls and good for the people around them
Topic:
Education, Gender Issues, Feminism, and Equality
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16. Asia’s Extreme Inequality Crisis: Building back fairer after COVID-19

Author:
Matthew Martin
Publication Date:
09-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
COVID-19 has exacerbated Asia’s crisis of extreme inequality. This is undermining growth and preventing poverty eradication. Asian governments have done almost nothing to combat this rise in inequality and are constrained in their policy choices as debt burdens grow and post-COVID austerity begins. A few Asian governments have done a lot to fight inequality during COVID-19 through equitable public services, progressive taxation and enhanced labour rights, especially for women, but most have not. This paper lays out a comprehensive set of measures that Asian governments, the Asian Development Bank and the international community could use to significantly reduce inequality, eradicate poverty and accelerate growth in Asia.
Topic:
Poverty, Governance, Pandemic, COVID-19, Banking, and Equality
Political Geography:
Asia

17. Mapping the “Women, Peace and Security” agenda in Latin America: a comparison of the UN’s National Action Plans

Author:
Paula Drumond, Tamya Rebelo, Isa Mendes, and Ana Velasco
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
BRICS Policy Center
Abstract:
Adopted on October 31, 2000 by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Resolution 1325 has since then been one of the main references for the development, strengthening, and expansion of policies aimed at promoting gender equality, giving rise to the so-called Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. This Policy Brief aims to map and systematize the diffusion of the WPS agenda in Latin America. This analysis aims to reflect on the contours of the agenda in the region and deepen the understanding of how Latin American countries engage with this global normative framework. Based on an analysis of the National Action Plans (NAPs) adopted so far by countries in the region (Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico), the work reveals how the agenda is being adopted in these different contexts, seeking to identify existing convergences and particularities. The mapping and analysis of the NAPs are organized around three main aspects: (i) their elaboration process and the actors involved; (ii) the content, objectives, and measures adopted; and (iii) implementation and monitoring strategies. The goal is to offer a general diagnosis of the national engagements with the agenda, summarizing the main advances, limitations, and recommendations to promote its implementation in the region.
Topic:
Security, Development, United Nations, Women, Peace, and Equality
Political Geography:
Latin America

18. Setting the Right Conditions for Aid to Afghanistan—and Other Nations as Well

Author:
Anthony H. Cordesman
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
A year of Taliban rule over Afghanistan has shown all too clearly that there are good reasons to debate the future level of aid to Afghanistan. The Emeritus Chair in Strategy at CSIS has prepared a detailed analysis of these issues, drawing on key sources like the UN, OHC, World Bank, CIA, and SIGAR.
Topic:
Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation, and Equality
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East

19. Gender Equity to Improve Immunization Services

Author:
Katherine E. Bliss and Alicia Carbaugh
Publication Date:
09-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
The Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of a strong health workforce to outbreak response, as well as of vaccine delivery to prevent further outbreaks. Women and men providing care, transporting supplies, analyzing data, and delivering vaccines to patients and their families have all contributed to pandemic-related activities while maintaining a focus on routine health programs. Women comprise an estimated two-thirds of the formal health workforce worldwide—and a high percentage of the unpaid health workforce as well. Yet gender inequities, including those related to training, compensation, and professional advancement, limit opportunities for female health workers to perform their duties and develop professionally, with implications for quality of care and health outcomes. By prioritizing gender equity within their own health workforces; gathering data on gender dynamics within the immunization programs they support; and supporting initiatives to train, retain, and advance the careers of female immunization workers, donor governments—including the United States, working with bilateral and multilateral partners—can strengthen quality of care, improve global immunization coverage, and reinforce health security in the long run.
Topic:
Governance, Medicine, Equality, Immunization, and Gender
Political Geography:
Global Focus

20. Gender Attitudes and Trends in MENA

Author:
Mary Clare Roche
Publication Date:
09-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Arab Barometer
Abstract:
Gender equality is far from achieved in MENA. Clear majorities in most countries surveyed hold that women should not play equal roles to men in both public and private spheres. Yet, there are also signs of change. In the past decade and a half of Arab Barometer surveys, public opinion across the Middle East and North Africa has trended towards gender equality. This is not only a result of younger generations with more liberal ideas of social norms becoming older, but an actual shift in perceptions across generations. In particular, agreement with the statements that “men are better at political leadership than women” and “university education is more important for men than women” has dropped sharply across many countries Arab Barometer has surveyed. The survey always examines perceptions of violence against women. There is a widespread perception that violence against women has been increasing in the region. This is in line with the World Bank’s assessment that gender-based violence has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in MENA.1 However, the gap between men and women’s perceptions of violence is significant, with women being far more likely to say the level of violence has increased. In order to appropriately address the issue of gender-based violence, conversations need to be facilitated across genders. Another challenge for women in MENA relates to employment opportunities. Labor force participation rates for women are the lowest of any region in the world.2 However, results from Arab Barometer make it clear that most citizens perceive structural barriers to have a greater impact than cultural barriers, meaning governments could more readily develop policies to address these challenges.
Topic:
Civil Society, Culture, Public Opinion, Equality, and Gender
Political Geography:
Africa, Middle East, North Africa, and MENA