Ghana is leading the way in promoting gender equality in the West and Central Africa region.
. Although this picture is optimistic, the improved outcomes of human giving have not translated into improved returns, access to assets, and decision-making. Many disparities persist, especially for women and girls in rural areas.Rural girls and women face higher barriers
Women and girls in rural Ghana have less access to education and health facilities than those in urban areas.
Girls in rural areas are less likely to attend, perform, and complete both primary and secondary school, and may face sociocultural barriers such as teenage pregnancy, child marriage, and unequal household burdens. It will be expensive. Only 79% of children in rural areas attend primary school, compared with 86% in urban areas, and 18% of teenage mothers in rural areas compared to 11% in urban areas.
Spillover effects on health and education further impede women’s participation in the labor market.
And women now participate in the labor market at a higher rate (65%) than in other SSA countries (63%). However, this positive trend has not translated into better economic opportunities for all women.
Women are more vulnerable in the labor market because of their insecure employment. 77% of women’s girlfriends are in vulnerable jobs compared to 58% of men’s girlfriends. Similarly, rural women are mostly self-employed and earn less because their work is informal. Women often choose self-employment to balance income generation with childcare and other household chores, but this prevents them from working in the formal sector or taking higher-paying jobs to improve their livelihoods. It’s gone.
In addition to the barriers that women face in accessing low-income jobs, primarily in the informal agricultural sector, the majority of women-owned businesses lack access to basic assets to increase productivity and increase profits. lack of access.
Limited access to land and other productive assets prevents women from using real estate as collateral, further exacerbating their economic exclusion. The law protects women’s property and ownership rights, but restrictive social norms limit women’s rights to own and use property. About 8% of women own land, compared to 30% of their male counterparts.
Women and girls are less likely to participate in decision-making
. Only 15% of parliaments are women, and only 27% of private sector management positions include women.
Gender-based violence continues to be prevalent in Ghana. The most common forms of domestic violence reported by women were economic violence (13%), social violence (12%), psychological violence (9%), physical violence (6%), and sexual violence. (3%). Additionally, women and girls with disabilities are twice as likely to experience sexual or physical violence. A woman with a disability is more likely to be physically dependent on her intimate partner, more likely to be poorer, less educated, and seen as more vulnerable by that partner.
Social norms create these gender disparities. Social norms are a set of informal rules that shape the attitudes, behaviors, and roles of women and men in society. These norms continue to limit Ghanaian women’s access to and use of opportunities at the same rates as men and boys, and further exclude them from social and economic empowerment.
. This is especially true in rural and northern regions, where women tend to be multidimensionally poor.
A multifaceted approach to reducing barriers
To address these multidimensional gender gaps, the World Bank recently developed the Ghana Country Gender Action Plan (C-GAP) to guide Ghana’s portfolio. C-GAP is a country-led analytical and operational roadmap for increasing the social and economic inclusion of women and girls through operational, policy, and advisory activities.
This will be carried out in collaboration with the World Bank’s Global Practice, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and all country management departments in collaboration with the Government of Ghana and development partners. Reducing the various economic and social barriers faced by women requires a multidisciplinary approach.