Macro-level policy solutions to promote women's economic empowerment in Africa

PEP is partnering with the Hewlett Foundation for a two-year initiative from 2022 to 2024 to establish capacity and processes for gender-sensitive policy practice and advocacy in Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Tanzania.

The goal of this initiative is to promote sustainable changes in the target countries by implementing macroeconomic policies that promote gender equality and empower women. This initiative aims to promote sustainable changes through the adoption, funding, and implementation of gender-responsive policies and advocacy for women's economic empowerment in support of the Foundation’s Strategy for Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE).

PEP will support in-country project teams made up of local researchers and stakeholders, including government and non-government representatives, in analyzing effective macro-level policy solutions to advance gender equality. The teams will use a state-of-the-art modelling framework to demonstrate how positive change can be achieved.

The teams will specifically focus on the following policy issues and solutions:

In Burkina Faso, the team will explore policy solutions to alleviate the burden of unpaid care duties on women.
In Cameroon, the team will focus on policies that support schooling for young girls, specifically through vocational training in high-demand skills, and protection for women entrepreneurs in both the formal and informal sectors.
In Tanzania, the team has identified structural issues within the existing tax regime that place women in disadvantaged positions, and will work to address these inequalities.

The project teams will work closely with policymaking institutions and organizations working to advance women's economic empowerment to support their research efforts and integrate evidence-informed decision-making into their processes.