AWD Report 2020
3.3 Challenges and Gaps Although North African countries took steps to promote women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship during the AWD, gaps remain. Not all North African States guarantee women the right to equal remuneration for work of equal value under the law. In countries where women are legally entitled to equal pay, implementation is often weak and inconsistent. Employers, both public and private, vary in their application of the law. Thus, the gender pay gap persists. Moreover, while the 2016 Draft Constitution of Libya expands on the right to work, it does not specifically articulate the right to equal pay. Similarly, while the 2020 Draft Constitution of Algeria includes a provision on minimum pay, it does not guarantee equal pay. At the time of writing, neither of these proposed constitutions has been adopted. While North African countries have a large and well-educated female labour force, women’s participation is low. North African women face barriers, some of which are cultural and some social. Firmly held social norms contribute to disparities in gender.617 Women are often seen as bringing in a secondary income. In contrast, men are viewed as holding the primary responsibility of providing for the family and, therefore, are justified in earning more.618 As a consequence, gender pay gaps contribute to higher rates of poverty among women and deny women autonomy and the full enjoyment of their human rights. Legislative reforms appear at times to promote gender equality as much as traditional gender roles, thus resulting in conflicting and weak implementation of State laws. For example, Egypt commits to taking necessary measures to ensure appropriate representation of women in public and legal sectors. It also ensures women’s empowerment to reconcile their duties towards the family and work requirements (Article 11 of the 2014 (rev 2019) Constitution)..619 Critics argue that this Article perpetuates the idea that caring for the family is primarily the duty of women.620 Moreover, because many North African women work in the informal sector, or hold vulnerable positions, they lack social protection. Of the countries reviewed and from the data analysed, few countries have adopted specific policies aimed at reducing poverty among women but many include such goals within strategies on promoting economic empowerment among women. North African women also face challenges in accessing financial resources, such as credit. A review of existing laws of six North African countries did not find any provisions protecting women against discrimination in access to credit based on gender, except in Morocco, where the law does offer such protection. A 2012 study by the World Bank showed that women in North Africa faced considerable barriers in obtaining loans and often had limited access to collateral.621 The study also revealed that many banks had conservative lending policies and that, because of a lack of trust, often rejected loan applications by female entrepreneurs.622 As a result, North African women’s participation in ownership (joint or sole ownership), as well as representation in management positions, remains well below that of their male counterparts. While nearly all North African countries provide for maternity leave, female employees often do not have access to flexible work hours and part-time work. Another challenge observed concerns the implementation of GRB. While some countries adopted legislative or policy reform on GRB during the AWD, others have not yet done so. Moreover, in countries such as Libya, the annual general budget is “not based on an integrated vision for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women” and only provides limited allocations to support such programmes.623 Gender is often integrated as a cross-cutting issue in national budgets. Therefore, assessing the budget rate devoted to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment is difficult. Conflicts and uprising also hampered progress towards implementing GRB in many North African countries during the Decade.
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