West Africa

Citation:

Coulter, Chris. 2005.  “The Post War Moment: Female Fighters in Sierra Leone.” Migration Studies Working Paper 22, Forced Migration Studies Programme, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Author: Chris Coulter

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, DDR, Gender, Women, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Sierra Leone

Year: 2005

Citation:

Goetz, Anne-Marie. 1995. The Politics of Integrating Gender to State Development Processes: Trends, Opportunities, and Constraints in Bangladesh, Chile, Jamaica, Mali, Morocco, and Uganda. Geneva: UNRISD.

Author: Anne-Marie Goetz

Abstract:

This paper provides an assessment of efforts in six of the seven countries to improve public accountability to women in the development process. The paper begins with a brief theoretical discussion of feminist perspectives on the developmentalist state (Part I). It then goes on to provide an overview of some of the more prominent political, economic and social trends of the past two decades, against which efforts have been made to institutionalize gender in state development processes (Part II). In the main body of the paper (Part III), the author provides a historical and comparative analysis of efforts in the six case study countries to institutionalize gender concerns. The picture that emerges is one of extraordinarily fractured trajectories of institutionalization within the public administration. Most of the gender units within government bureaucracy that are studied here have a mandate to pursue their agenda across other government departments — a project that is sometimes called “mainstreaming”. For this they have devised a range of policy instruments (e.g. gender guidelines, gender training) intended to bring about gender-sensitive institutional, policy and operational changes across the public sector in order to make responsiveness to women’s interests a routine part of each sector’s activities. Despite significant efforts, the attempts to routinize gender concerns have for the most part been ineffective because gender units have been unable to provide the necessary incentives to encourage a positive reception in other departments. Some of the critical areas for gender mainstreaming considered in the paper include the national development plan and budget which constitute important public statements expressing politically selected priorities for change and progress, and are based on a macro-economic framework designed to create the conditions under which this national vision can be realized. Efforts so far in the countries studied have failed to ensure a systematic connection between national policy commitments to the integration of gender in development and the budgetary allocations that are necessary to realize those commitments. The chronic short-staffing of gender administrative units, compounded by their weak analytical skills, has tended to contribute to this failure. Equally important, however, has been the political weakness of gender constituents outside the state. In the politics of policy-making a critical point of leverage on decision makers is popular pressure and public opinion — the presence of an active constituency.

Topics: Development, Economies, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gender Mainstreaming, Governance, Political Participation Regions: Africa, MENA, East Africa, North Africa, West Africa, Americas, Caribbean countries, South America, Asia, South Asia Countries: Bangladesh, Chile, Jamaica, Mali, Morocco, Uganda

Year: 1995

Citation:

Abdullah, Hussaina. 1993. “‘Transition Politics’ and the Challenge of Gender in Nigeria.” Review of African Political Economy, no. 56, 27-41.

Author: Hussaina Abdullah

Abstract:

At present Nigeria is in a 'transitional' period as the country moves into the Third Republic, a form of civilian government devised by the present Federal Military Government (FMG). This has not only entailed the creation of political parties (one, the National Republican Convention, a 'little to the right', the other, the Social Democratic Party, a 'little to the left'), it has also involved the establishment of other organisations conforming to the views of the FMG. A striking number of these are apparently directed towards improving the position of women in Nigerian society. These organisations are critically examined in the context of a structural adjustment programme promoted by the military government, and against the activities of trade unions, political parties and democratic associations.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Military Forces & Armed Groups Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 1993

Citation:

Denov, Myriam, and Richard MacLure. 2006. “Engaging the Voices of Girls in the Aftermath of  Sierra Leone’s Conflict: Experiences and Perspectives in a Culture of Violence.” Anthropologica 48 (1): 73–85.

Authors: Myriam Denov, Richard MacLure

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Girls, International Organizations, Post-Conflict, Violence Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Sierra Leone

Year: 2006

Citation:

Oyekanmi, Felicia Durojaiye. 2005. “Institutionalization of Gender Inequality in Nigeria: Implications for the Advancement of Women.” Population Review Publications 44 (1): 56-71.

Author: Felicia Durojaiye Oyekanmi

Abstract:

This paper highlights the institutionalization of gender inequality in Nigerian society and affirms that there is a thin divide between the public and private lives of women in Nigeria, especially in rural areas. It draws attention to the emergence of non-traditional female-headed families. The new trend in defining the household shows that it is a dynamic social unit that is not necessarily built around men. This new flexibility in defining the household helps to envision women, not as persons who work merely to supplement household income, but as persons who engage in economic ventures because they have personal needs and aspirations. The main barriers to the advancement of women in public life are low level of employment of women in the formal labor sector, low literacy rates, gender stereotypes with regard to employment opportunities and promotions, and cultural practices such as patriarchy and early marriage that limit women's access to and control over resources. In their private liveswomen somehow manage to provide the necessary resources to maintain themselves and their children with or without financial assistance from spouses, although with increased difficulty. The feminization of poverty concept is applicable in view of the high level of poverty among women. In order to remedy the situation for women in Nigeria, and to enhance the lives of the populace in general, proposals are put forth that it is hoped will be embraced by government leaders, employers, families and individuals.

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2005

Citation:

Bouta, Tsjeard, Georg Frerks, and Bib Hughes. 2005. Gender and Peacekeeping in the West African Context. The Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael.

Authors: Tsjeard Bouta, Georg Frerks, Bib Hughes

Topics: Gender, Peacekeeping Regions: Africa, West Africa

Year: 2005

Citation:

Yoon, Mi Yung. 2004. “Explaining Women’s Legislative Representation in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 29 (3): 447–68. doi:10.3162/036298004X201258.

Author: Mi Yung Yoon

Abstract:

This study examines the relative impacts of social, economic, cultural, and political determinants on women's legislative representation in sub-Saharan Africa by using an ordinary least squares multiple regression model. Under study are sub-Saharan African countries that held democratic legislative elections between January 1990 and June 30, 2001. Only the latest election in each country is included for analysis. My study finds that patriarchal culture, proportional representation systems, and gender quotas are statistically significant. This study, by focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, fills a gap in the extant literature, which has focused on women's legislative representation in advanced industrialized democracies.

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Governance, Quotas, Elections, Political Participation Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa

Year: 2004

Citation:

Specht, Irma, and Larry Attree. 2006. “The Reintegration of Teenage Girls and Young Women.” Intervention 4 (3): 219–28. doi:10.1097/WTF.0b013e3280118167.

Authors: Irma Specht, Larry Attree

Abstract:

Women combatants are not a homogeneous group. The current approach of many Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programmes is inappropriate for girls between 14 and 25 years of age. In order to provide reintegration assistance that has a significant long-term impact, it is essential first to understand why girls the join armed forces. Before DDR programme plans are finalized and programmes started, time and resources need to be invested firstly to locate the girls and then begin the process of understanding their potentials, vulnerabilities, dreams and ambitions.

Keywords: child soldiers, girl soldiers, reintegration, Liberia

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, DDR, Gender, Women, Girls, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2006

Citation:

Denov, Myriam, and Christine Gervais. 2007. “Negotiating (In)Security: Agency, Resistance, and Resourcefulness among Girls Formerly Associated with Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 32 (4): 885-910.

Authors: Myriam Denov, Christine Gervais

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, Gender, Girls, Security Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Sierra Leone

Year: 2007

Citation:

Schroeder, Richard. 1987. "Gender Vulnerability to Drought: A Case Study of the Hausa Social Environment." Working Paper 58, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.

Author: Richard Schroeder

Annotation:

Summary:

This study investigates the effects of different class- and gender-based relationships on the relative drought vulnerability of Hausa households on the southern fringe of the Sahel. In particular, it describes the economic and social relationships that make certain people in that part of Africa (in particular, women) more likely to occupy the ecological and economic margins where drought and famine are commonplace.

The customs and beliefs associated with gender roles among the Hausa range widely, and the degree of vulnerability of different households varies accordingly. The study divides women's roles and relationships to their society into three categoies -- the "dominant" form (characterized by the practice of wife seclusion), the "residual" form (a less restrictive role found primarily among rural, agricultural population), and the "emergent" form (a "modern," more liberal life style) -- and examines the effects of each on vulnerability.

The study shows that women bear the brunt of the gender vulnerability in Hausaland and details the reasons for their disproportionate risk. In addition, it finds that there is a marked increase in vulnerability among peasant and working class women; they seem to experience all of the negative aspects of any particular form of gender relationship, while enjoying few, if any, of the benefits. Although it is difficult to make any quantitative comparisons of the relative levels of drought vulnerability due to gender relationships, it does appear that seclusion poses the greatest risks to lower calss women.

The study concludes that environmental relations are in all respects social relations, and that clearly, gender constructions have environmental implications. It follow that an understanding of how these relationships are formed and how they change is essential to an uderstanding of the relationship of a particular society to its environment. 

Topics: Class, Economies, Environment, Environmental Disasters, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Households, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, West Africa

Year: 1987