1.3. Challenges and Gaps 2. EAST AFRICA ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 105

includes providing support to female entrepreneurs.539 Cameroon’s Country Programme for Decent Work 2014–2017 aims, under Priority 1, to increase decent employment opportunities and income-generating activities, particularly for women, young people and vulnerable groups.540 The objectives of São Tomé and Príncipe’s National Social Protection Strategy 2015 include eradicating extreme poverty in the country. Similarly, one of its main goals is promoting employability and access to safe and decent work for those outside of the labour market, including young persons, women and persons with disabilities.541

Because women tend to have low purchasing power and to lack access to credit, countries across the Central African region have carried out targeted initiatives. One important initiative has been granting microcredit to women to improve their economic status and create women-owned businesses. Burundi has created a microcredit fund and a platform to allow women to share their experiences on earning and saving money.542 In 2017, the rural microcredit fund reportedly created 32% more jobs for women.543 In 2011, Chad created a dedicated ministry responsible for the granting of microcredit to women and youth.544 Microcredit is granted to women who lack access to regular banking services to promote their economic development.545 In 2019, the relevant ministry in Chad had contracted eight microfinance institutions.546 As a result of targeted initiatives, DR Congo reported a rise in the share of female clients of microcredit institutions, with 49.8% women beneficiaries in 2015.547 In Gabon, the National Social Assistance Fund supported 200 women to carry out income-generating activities in 2016.548

Most Central African countries have introduced various policies and programmes that provide capacity-building and support to women’s income-generating activities. In Cameroon, the Ministry for the Promotion of Women and the Family organises capacitybuilding for female entrepreneurs as well as training with woman on setting up and managing income-generating activities.549 In 2018, 27,750 women were trained.550

With a view to empowering women, several Central African countries have also implemented poverty reduction programmes. For example, Chad, in collaboration with the World Bank, has implemented the Safety Nets Program targeting poor households with pregnant women and children under the age of 15.551 The project, which began in 2016, provides households with a monthly sum of CFAF 15,000 (US$25) every two months and incomeearning opportunities for households in N’Djamena’s urban and peri-urban areas.552

Some of the Central African countries have implemented strategies to ensure a more equitable distribution of national budgets. The 2017–2021 Action Plan of the Burundian National Gender Policy sensitises sector ministries on the involvement of gender units in sectoral planning and budgeting.553 In DR Congo, the National Strategy for Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting aims to address the burden of unpaid work on women.554 In 2019, Congo Republic reported the training of relevant departmental bodies on gender-sensitive budgeting in public finances, including monitoring budget allocations to gender.555 Figure 4 Central Africa: Firms with female participation in ownership (% of firms)

Chad 13.1%

DR Congo 15.1%

Congo Republic 31.8%

Gabon 33.1%

Cameroon 39.7%

Burundi

Central African Republic 44.0%

53.3%

No data available for Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé and Príncipe. Source: World Bank, Gender Statistics DataBank.

1.3. Challenges and Gaps

While Central African countries have made progress in legal, policy and institutional reform concerning women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship, challenges and gaps remain, leading to disparities between men and women. Across the region, poverty and lack of purchasing power among women remains a substantial barrier to economic equality. Although all Central African countries provide for paid leave for mothers, and many provide for some amount of paid leave for fathers, the work–family balance is unequal. Like in other regions, women in the Central African region are responsible for unpaid care work and childcare. In Chad, household chores and child care tend to be viewed as “women’s work.” In addition to this, rural women also

carry out labour and time-intensive tasks related to maintaining farm land.556 This severely affects their ability to pursue economic activities. It also highlights the additional barriers faced by rural women.

Some countries still maintain contradictions between labour laws and civil codes. While women in Cameroon have a right to work under the Labour Code, the Civil Code allows this only insofar as the husband does not unreasonably reject.557

Many women in the Central African region lack access to financial resources, such as access to loans and credit. In Burundi, failure to meet banks’ requirements severely limit women’s access to credit.558 Restrictions on access to financial resources, such as credit or a bank account, discriminate against Central African women and negatively affect their economic empowerment and entrepreneurship. In Central African Republic, this lack of access prevents women from moving out of the informal sector to the formal sector,559 where access to benefits is realised. In Cameroon, the vast majority of informal workers are women and, as such, they do not receive adequate social security benefits and labour protections.560 Across the region, except for DR Congo’s legal reform of 2015 (Law No. 15/013), no legal provisions prohibiting gender-based discrimination in access to credit were found. Thus, women likely lack legal protection against discrimination in such cases. Moreover, in four countries (Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon), a woman cannot open a bank account in the same way as a man. These restrictions prevent women from safely depositing and saving their financial resources and limits their freedom and rights. Women are further restricted when it comes to equal ownership rights to immovable property. In most Central African countries, except for Burundi, Central African Republic and São Tomé and Príncipe,561 women and men do not have equal rights to such immovable property. For many Central African women, lack of equal property rights reduces their ability to secure financial resources. Possession of assets, such as immovable property, is needed to secure credit to start a business. Moreover, women often lack access to support and advisory services to help them access financial and other resources.

While Central African countries took steps during the Decade to promote gender equality and increase women’s access to financial resources through gender budgeting, the review observed some challenges. Some countries have not yet implemented gender budgeting. In Central African Republic, the Finance Law 2017 did not provide for a dedicated budget line for activities related to gender.562 Meanwhile, in 2019, DR Congo reported that its planned reform of the budget system in 2020 would provide an opportunity to talk about GRB.563 The lack of “mainstreaming” is also a problem. Only a limited number of the Burundian ministries incorporate gender into their budgets.564 Countries that implement GRB lack mechanisms to monitor and assess its impact, owing to lack of capacity. In Equatorial Guinea, for example, there are no mechanisms established to ensure a follow-up of the budget allocations destined to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women in the country.565 Other countries do not specifically implement GRB; instead, they treat gender and gender equality considerations as cross-cutting themes in national programmes and projects. The budgetary breakdowns in force are often insufficient to assess whether budget allocations benefit women and girls and contribute to their economic empowerment and well-being.