January 23, 2024 | Cotonou, Benin
A team of local PEP researchers held a national policy conference to share their findings on how gender inequality and sexist gender norms hinder economic resilience in Benin.
January 23, 2024 – A team of local PEP researchers held a national policy conference to share their findings on how to promote the economic resilience of women and girls in the face of income shocks, particularly droughts.
The project team brought together 25 policymakers and stakeholders—including representatives of multiple women’s rights organisations—to discuss their findings and policy recommendations.
The key policy stakeholders and actors in attendance were staff from within the Ministry of Social Affairs and Microfinance. Several participants attended from the Observatory for Families, Women and Children (OFFE) and the Social Affairs and Microfinance regional office (DDASM).
Team member Marthe Kougblenou Menou presented the findings and recommendations from the team’s PEP project Considering social gender norms under income shocks: Evidence to support women’s economic resilience and empowerment in Benin.
She shared findings showing that social norms are an important factor in the economic empowerment of women. Ms. Kougblenou Menou explained how understanding the range of gender norms practiced in different areas of rural Benin is vital for tailoring effective resilience strategies to the country’s various communities. These gender norms include matrimonial transactions (particularly the dowry), the division of labor within married couples, and the age that girls leave (or drop out of) school, particularly as part of early marriage practices.
Team member Raouf Mama Sanni and a representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Microfinance also addressed those gathered. They spoke on the social action data collection system and on the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend (SWEDD) and Cash and Care projects, respectively.
The speakers at the event called on the relevant authorities to provide support that can empower women and girls in rural Benin while considering existing norms.
“The policy implications emanating from the results of the study constitute a vital source of information for decision-makers who will now be able to integrate social norms in their policy,” said Aline Assankpon, Communications and Organisation Manager at Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) Benin.
Representatives of NGOs fighting against early marriage and advocating for girls’ education highlighted the importance of the team’s findings for their work. The NGO representatives said that scientific results are essential for them to justify the effect of norms on schooling and on early marriage when used as a resilience strategy by the girls’ families.
Journalists from the Beninese news websites Le Chasseur Infos and Oxygene-info, and the online television channel ESAE TV (all in French) reported from the event, underlining public interest in the team’s work.
The research team organized the event with financial and advisory support from PEP. The research project was carried out as part of the Social gender norms and women's resilience under income shocks initiative, supported by PEP with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
