In Africa’s fragile contexts, the burden of conflict, poverty and climate change falls most heavily on already marginalised groups. If we do not significantly and collectively step up our efforts, the continent’s share of the world’s poor will rise to over 90 per cent by 2030, and eight of the world’s 10 poorest countries will be in Africa and in situations of fragility. We need to act decisively to reset this trajectory. Today, pockets of fragility are increasingly spreading within and across borders, exacerbated by the Coronavirus Disease outbreak with its health and socio-economic consequences. The pandemic has disproportionately impacted women and girls living in fragile contexts with ripple effects on education, livelihoods and nutrition, among others.
However, women are the backbones of African economies and can be key drivers of transformation as we strive to build back better, more resilient societies. It is women, if empowered and provided with adequate support, who can help rebuild communities once the crisis has passed.
Studies demonstrate that in Africa, women re-invest up to 90 per cent of their income in providing a social safety net for their families, with a positive impact on health, education and nutrition. Investing in women generates higher development returns.
Challenges of vulnerability and fragility
Fragility and its manifestations are complex, multi-dimensional and evolving as a result of dramatic social, economic, political and environmental changes that exacerbate patterns of inequality, exclusion and marginalisation. Women have been for far too long – and are unfortunately too often still – confined to unpaid carework and low paying jobs, which results in unpredictable and inadequate sources of income and social protection.
The COVID-19 crisis has deepened these inequalities. A study carried out by ImpactHer and United Nations Women across 30 African countries in July 2020 revealed that 80 per cent of female small and medium-sized business owners had to temporarily or permanently shut down their businesses due to pandemic restrictions.
The effect of an economic retrenchment in women-led businesses is being felt across society as women-led businesses account for about 40 per cent of Africa’s Small and Medium-size Enterprises. This has resulted in reduced access to basic services, including food security, nutrition, health, education and housing, rising fragility pressures across the continent. At the same time, governments’ fiscal space is narrowing, as a result of diminished economic activity and rising budgetary demands for social protection amid the pandemic. This leaves fewer resources for development finance.
Tapping women’s potential to build resilience
Women are at the centre ofour economies and societies, and their access to more opportunity results in collateral benefits for all – and magnifies impact. If women are empowered and provided with adequate support, transformation to inclusive communities with shared prosperity and reduced poverty is possible on the African continent.
The African Development Bank remains on the frontline of the challenge to reach the continent’s most vulnerable and to bolster resilient communities.
Specifically, AfDB is working with partners to address some of the causes of fragility and vulnerability among women, youth and other marginalised groups such as forcibly displaced and hosting communities, through key strategic and operational policies. We do this through expanding analytics, knowledge work and tools that underpin our strategies, policies and operations across Africa.
One example is the bank’s support for income-generating activities in the Sahel, in areas such as Timbuktu in Mali, Diffa and Agadez in Niger and Kishira in Chad, with the aim of breaking long-term cycles of crisis and vulnerability. While responsiveness and flexibility guide the bank group’s approach to addressing fragility, more emphasis is to be given to early warning of risks, mitigation and prevention efforts.
Innovative partnerships
While a lot of ground has been covered, many challenges still lie ahead. These should be addressed through an integrated approach across all sectors, for specific interventions to be identified, performance monitored and reported.
We need innovative partnerships that break the silos of development and humanitarian interventions along the peace-development-humanitarian nexus. We need to bring in the private sector and leverage our comparative advantages to have the desired impact at scale on the ground and break the cycle of poverty and fragility.
Some of the most effective ways to invest in the resilience of women, youth and vulnerable communities were spotlighted from November 11 to 12 at the virtual Finance in Common Summit (for example, but not limited to, High-Level Event 3 on Human Security in Fragile Settings: Scaling-Up Humanitarian and Resilience Investment and High-Level Event 7 on Development Banks as Actors for Change Towards Gender Equality). The summit brought together 450 public development banks for the first time, to promote new forms of investment to foster inclusive and sustainable growth.
The time has come to invest in women, harness their strength and resilience to build more prosperous communities, because where women succeed, everyone benefits.
* Mrs. Moungar is Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society at AfDB, while Baldeh is the Director for Transition States Coordination Office.
