By Sharon Atieno
Women’s economic participation is key to sustainable development—it is not just about equality but a fundamental driver of economic growth and national prosperity.
Anne Wang’ombe, Permanent Secretary, Gender and Affirmative Action, Kenyan Ministry of Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage said in a speech read on her behalf by Florence Chemutai, Deputy Director, Gender. She was speaking at the Growth and Economic Opportunities for women East Africa (GrOW-EA) workshop in Nairobi, Kenya.
She observed that gender equality in the world of work contributes directly to global goals and particularly sustainable development goals (SDGs). These include Gender Equality (SDG 5), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8) and Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10).
“Unpaid care work limits women’s ability to engage in paid care work,” Wang’ombe said, noting that this is an area of concern which needs to be addressed.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), while men are more likely to cite other personal reasons for being outside the labour force, such as education and health issues, care responsibilities present the main barrier to women entering and staying in the labour force.
Globally, around 1.6 billion women and 800 million men are outside the labour force, with 45 per cent of these women and five per cent of these men citing care responsibilities as the reason for their non-participation. Women with lower education and those in rural areas also face higher barriers to workforce participation due to care responsibilities.
The GrOW-EA workshop which runs from 5th-7th, March, marks the end of the GrOW-EA project which brought together several organizations across five Eastern Africa countries (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia) to address barriers to women economic empowerment including unpaid care work. Others are lack of access to decent jobs and male-dominated industries, and the need for gender-responsive policies and workplace structures.
Funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the five-year project sought to develop effective approaches and solutions that will empower women and girls to take charge of their own lives and livelihoods.
According to Kathryn Toure, IDRC Regional Director, Eastern and Southern Africa, the evidence-based solutions generated through the GrOW-EA project serve as stepping stones for transformative change.
To address barriers that hinder women’s economic empowerment, Toure said, the project has engaged policymakers on unpaid care work, and developed and tested scalable childcare solutions to enable more women to enter and stay in the workplace.
“It has equipped young women with gender-sensitive skills training to access better paying jobs particularly in non-traditional sectors and supported women entrepreneurs to research on gender-responsive public procurement,” she added.
The project has brought positive change across the region. In Uganda, for instance, the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) found that women spent nearly three times more hours on unpaid care work than men, which limited their ability to earn an income.
The project team introduced community-based childcare solutions and trained men in positive masculinities, encouraging shared household responsibilities. These interventions resulted in 40% reduction in women’s unpaid care work. Amongst those households that participated in the study, men who participated in the training took on more care giving responsibilities- a major shift in gender norms.
In Ethiopia, a study by the Policy Studies Institute examined barriers preventing women from accessing high-paying jobs in technical fields such as construction and manufacturing.
The project team provided gender sensitivity, vocational training, employer, engagement, and men’s mentorship to improve women’s entry into these fields. Over 60% of trained women secured jobs in sectors traditionally dominated by men. Employers reported greater confidence in hiring women, recognizing their technical expertise and reliability.
Additionally, the Ethiopian Ministry of Labor is reviewing gender-sensitive labor policies informed by this research.
Toure underscored that the knowledge and evidence from all of the countries in which GrOW was present will be translated into actions to transform lives, adding, “As we look at it, we have the opportunity to strengthen gender-sensitive economic policies, ensuring that child care, unpaid care work, and decent work opportunities are at the heart of national economic strategies.”
“We have the opportunity to scale successful employment and training programs, ensuring that more women have access to high-quality, decent jobs, and we have the opportunity to encourage government businesses and organizations to adopt gender-responsive procurement and workplace policies. “
