Aside from the long-attached traditional practices that restrict women’s equal participation and benefits in various spheres of society, including education, employment and social advancement, several women still face significant challenges because of discriminatory policies.
Despite the tireless efforts to empower women and ensure their rights, even today, millions of women continue to face harsh socio-economic realities and are leading unfulfilling lives on every continent of the world.
Despite ongoing efforts to empower women and secure their rights, millions of women across the globe continue to face harsh economic realities and are forced to live unfulfilling lives, even after decades of progress.
This is especially true when it comes to Africa, where women are the backbone of families and productive members of economies; but their presence and contributions often left unnoticed or ignored on purpose.
According to a new report by UNICEF, Plan International, and UN Women, released ahead of International Women’s Day, under the title “Girl Goals: What has changed for girls? Adolescent girls’ rights over 30 years,” while progress has been made, young girls and women still encounter multifarious challenges. Millions of girls remain out of school, lack essential health services, and are exposed to violence, abuse, and harmful practices like child marriage, female genital mutilation, and other forms of exploitation, which demand urgent action and more concerted and continued efforts to achieve gender equality.
In a recent consultative forum organized by the Gudina Tumsa Foundation (GTF), focusing on research findings on Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) and exploring policy-driven solutions to advance gender equality in Oromia and Somali states, the urgent need for multi-sectoral collaboration and policy reforms were emphasized to bridge existing gaps and create a more inclusive economic landscape for women.
Opening the workshop, Head of Oromia State President Office Abdulaziz Dawud (PhD), emphasized the need for multi-sectoral collaboration to bridge existing gaps and create a more inclusive economic landscape for women.
According to him, barriers such as challenges in policy execution, poor inter-sectorial coordination, coupled with limited access to gender-sensitive financial services are limiting State’s endeavors to address issues affecting women’s equal participation and benefit in the State.
To address the aforementioned challenges and alleviate the problems, devising legal frameworks that hinder women’s land and property rights, developing strategies that enhance their active participation and leadership role at workplaces are critical. Equally, undertaking concerted advocacy activities and policy reforms is pivotal to the sustainable empowerment of women, and other victims in the State, he added.
The Health and Livelihood Improvement Advocacy Project in Oromia State (HaLIAPO) Women’s Economic Empowerment Office Project Advisor with Office State’s President Office, Gelane Gure said that women’s economic empowerment encompasses a wide range of issues, including health, safety, rights for property, and equal participation and benefits in the overall country of the country. Stating that empowering women economically needs a multi-faceted approach, the Advisor said that understanding and developing a framework that is appropriate to the specific context for women is essential.
According to her, to strengthen existing efforts, fill gaps, and address emerging challenges, states must adopt the federal government’s proclamations, policies, guidelines, and regulations to their local contexts in the operation. Oromia State is working to address women’s challenges in a way that aligns with the local context though in both project operating states, there are challenges in women’s economic empowerment, she added.
The reason that GTF works in collaboration with states and conducted a baseline study is to determine the status of women’s economic empowerment in Oromia and Somali states. The discussion forum has also this same motif Galane said adding that the survey was conducted on selected indicators in the State.
While stating some of the indicators used to conduct the research, Galane said, the participation of women in entrepreneurship in the State, the status of men and women employees in government organizations, the status of women who created job opportunities for fellow citizens, women’s income in the formal sector compared to their male counterparts, and the sum of rural women’s who own land were some.
As a result, a wide gap was observed between men’s and women’s participation in the project implementing states, she pointed out.
Although the State is working centering on areas like women’s employment creation, promoting saving and credit services, and other measures to strengthen women’s economic capacity, more work is needed, especially for those women in rural areas, who have not received formal education and cannot make informed decisions how to use their money, she said.
Galane pointed out that, financial service systems that are suitable for women should be expanded, and she noted that the survey will be used as input for policy by bringing together pertinent bodies, discussing the issue with relevant stakeholders, identifying policy gaps and situations that do not even indicate the existence of the problem. Identifying and addressing implementation problems, in the existing policy are also critical.
The survey has also provided insight into the fact that the problem requires the participation of all, including the government, non-governmental organizations, development partners, community leaders, and community elders since women’s issues are a matter for the entire community. “There cannot be a single policy for everyone in policy implementation.
Farmers and pastoralists cannot benefit from the same system in Ethiopia as a whole, let alone Oromia because their contexts are different. Urban and rural areas cannot be treated in the same context, so a policy approach that is appropriate for their environment and lifestyle is needed,” she underlined.
She also pointed out that it was possible to understand during the study that women’s ability to generate income has reduced, that most women do not meet the criteria set for obtaining loans, and that these procedures should be specific to a specific context and include many women.
“The problems cannot be attributed to the limited capacity to implement policies alone, but there are underlying and unseen issues that cannot be addressed by this study alone, such as the unpaid burden of raising children, caring for the elderly and the sick ones, and backbreaking house chores, especially in rural areas.”
To be competitive and participate in the economy, the problem should not only be addressed within the legal framework, but also be investigated and studied by states and other concerned bodies, she said.
She also emphasized the need to work in partnership with policymakers, institutions and stakeholders to solve those tricky challenges.
The project, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will work on improving health, education, agricultural production and productivity, women’s economic empowerment, and access to financial services for the women and pastoralists of the states
Teshome Bula is Healthcare and Livelihood Improvement Advocacy Project Manager at the GTF, in Oromia State.
In his research paper presented at the forum, he explained that the economic empowerment of women and farmers is one of the projects being carried out by the Foundation.
The project will focus on improving health and nutrition, agricultural production and productivity, economic empowerment, and financial access for women and farmers in the Oromia and Somali states.
According to him, the project is implemented in collaboration with the Office of Oromia President, relevant stakeholders, Women and Children’s Office, and those working directly or indirectly to empower women economically, based on the survey.
He also opined that in order to work and reach the effort in touch on ground and benefit women and farmers, it is necessary to have policies in the health, agriculture, women, economy, and finance sectors that are conducive to this, and that the project is working with all sectors, he said.
At the discussion, critical issues and areas that are affecting women’s economic empowerment, including challenges in policy implementation, the need for stronger inter-sectorial coordination, and the importance of gender-sensitive financial services have been raised by participants.
The participants also explored legal and institutional frameworks that impact women’s access to land and property rights, as well as strategies to enhance their participation in the workforce and leadership roles.
The consultative forum was held as part of GTF’s the Health and Livelihood Improvement Advocacy Project in Oromia State (HaLIAPO).
BY MUSSA MUHAMMED
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 14 MARCH 2025
