AWD Report 2020
gain access to credit. In its first year, it provided 7,073 loans to women across 10 provinces;660 in addition, the Women’s Empowerment Fund, in operation since 2010, supported 133 projects in 2020. Other women’s empowerment initiatives ranged from Namibia’s and Zimbabwe’s support for women micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs661 to the provision of agricultural equipment to women’s cooperatives in Zambia,662 and the establishment of women’s business associations such as the Zimbabwe Federation of National Associations of Women in Business in Eastern and Southern Africa.663 During the Decade, significant institutional reforms increased the protection of pregnant women against discrimination. In 2014, the Labour Court of Lesotho ruled in Makafane v. Zhongxian Investment Pty Ltd that a dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy constitutes unconstitutional discrimination.664
4.3 Challenges and Gaps While Southern African countries made much progress in advancing women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship through legal, policy and institutional reform throughout the Decade, some challenges and gaps remain. For example, not all countries guarantee equal remuneration for work of equal value under the law. Despite legislation on affirmative action and strategies to increase women’s participation in the workforce, women continue to face discrimination. For example, in Malawi, CSOs observed that women face discrimination practice, and some employees do not hire women.665 A gap observed concerning affirmative action legislation concerns its application. In some cases, the laws apply to only certain employers specified by the government, often employers who employ more than 25 (Namibia) or 50 (South Africa) employees, but do not apply to the informal sector, where many women are employed. Another contestation in terms of affirmative action laws is taking place in South Africa, where an ongoing Labour Court case is challenging the Employment Equity Act on the grounds that, “Affirmative action should be applied in a more nuanced way; That socio-economic indicators must be taken into account; That the way in which affirmative action is currently applied gives rise to a practice of race quotas.”666 Except for South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, most countries in the region do not meet the ILO standard of 14 weeks of maternity leave. Few states in the region offer paid paternity leave, which hinders women’s full equality and maintains the role of women as the primary caretaker. South Africa provides 14 days of paid paternity leave, while fathers in Angola and Mozambique receive one day of paid leave. Moreover, in many Southern African countries, maternity benefits are not being fully administered by the government.667 In Lesotho, for example, there is no obligation for an employer to pay women’s wages on maternity leave, which leads many to use their annual leave instead to cover for their absence.668 Women working in the informal sector do not benefit from maternity leave or pensions.669 Access to financial resources, such as credit, remains a challenge to women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship in the region. Although many countries have implemented mechanisms to improve access to loans and credit, in half of Southern African countries discrimination in access to credit based on gender is not prohibited under the law. Women often face problems in starting a business, such as limited resources and high finance costs.670 Moreover, many women, particularly, in rural areas, have limited or no access to banks. As a result, some women often prefer using informal lending sources to banks.671 This lack of or limited access to financial resources contributes to excluding women from economic activities and hinders the realisation of women’s economic rights. High rates of poverty persist in Southern Africa. Women make up the more than 50% of the poor population in SADC.672 In five countries (Eswatini, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe), women-headed households experienced higher poverty levels between 2010 and 2020.673 Although several countries have implemented strategies to eradicate poverty, the data reviewed did not reveal a policy or plan that focuses explicitly on eradicating poverty among women. Thus, femaleheaded households, and women in general, continue to face challenges in advancing their economic well‑being.
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