Women's political and reproductive health empowerment in Africa: A literature review
Maty Konte, Victor Osei Kwadwo & Tatenda Zinyemba
#2019-044
This chapter reviews recent literature on the determinants of women's
political and reproductive-health empowerment in Africa and tracks the
progress that has been made during the Millennium Development Goals
period and onwards. The chapter highlights important facts. First, in
Africa, there is little to no gender gap in voting during elections, but
there is a significant gender gap in inter-electoral participation, such
as participation in political meetings, or any other relevant political
actions that can influence policy and political outcomes. The literature
on the determinants of the gender gap in political participation has
shown that the well-established determinants thereof in Western
countries, such as income, education, and employment, have very little
relevance in explaining the gender gap in political participation in
Africa. Factors such as intra-household bargaining power and
discriminatory social norms play an important role in explaining the
gender gap in inter-electoral participation in Africa. Second, while the
number of women policy-makers has significantly increased, these women
have little influence and control a small fraction of the budget. Third,
the use of contraceptives in Africa has increased by approximately 6
percent between 2000 and 2014, but Africa still records among the lowest
rates of contraceptive usage and highest unmet need for family planning
in the world. Lastly, the literature review has shown that factors such
as education, area of residence, religion, socioeconomic status, and
funding of reproductive health services are key determinants of
contraceptive use. This chapter has several implications for SDG 5 on
gender equality and women's empowerment, more specifically targets 5.4
and 5.6.
Keywords: Africa, Gender gap, Political Participation, Reproductive Health, Women's empowerment
JEL Classification: J13, J160, O550