This document was designed and produced by the Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement (RFLD). Its content is the sole responsibility of RFLD.
This document focuses on the implementation of an inclusive economic policy; strengthened support systems for women; better access to decent work, means of production and social protection; and the recognition, redistribution and reduction of unpaid care work.
What the handbook covers
RFLD published this 54-page handbook in French in October 2021, with a grant from Urgent Action Fund Africa. It was written for women’s rights organisations and community leaders in West and Central Africa who want to understand how economic policy shapes women’s lives, and how to change it. The starting point is unpaid care work. Women carry most of the domestic and care burden, and the handbook asks why public policy still treats this as a private matter.
The handbook is organised in five chapters:
- Gender-sensitive macroeconomic policy. How the different levels of the economy affect women, why trade liberalisation has not closed the wage gap, and why gender-responsive budgeting should become standard practice.
- Economic resilience and income security for women. A working definition of resilience and its links with the Sustainable Development Goals, followed by a framework for women’s economic empowerment and the international instruments that protect women’s economic rights, starting with CEDAW.
- Intersectional gender justice. What intersectionality means in practice, and how discrimination changes when gender combines with other grounds such as age or disability.
- The role of governments. The practical needs and strategic interests of women, gender-sensitive governance, and the seven Women’s Empowerment Principles.
- Digital tools for women’s rights. An overview of international and African protection mechanisms, and how digital technology can help women document and report rights violations.
The handbook remains a reference for RFLD’s training on women’s economic rights. To go further, explore our economic and social justice programme and our analysis of economic justice and rights in Francophone Africa. The RFLD podcast series on economic justice covers the same themes in audio, and our programmes page shows how this work fits into RFLD’s strategy.
