The care connection: The World Bank and women鈥檚 unpaid care work in select sub-Saharan African countries
Abstract
With the aim of reducing women鈥檚 greater unpaid care work than men鈥檚 and increasing women鈥檚 paid employment, this paper examines the extent to which World Bank investments address unpaid care work. The paper conducts an in-depth gender analysis of 36 World Bank employment-related projects in Malawi, Mali, Niger, and Rwanda. It concludes that the vast majority (92 per cent) of reviewed projects fail to account for unpaid care work. Exceptionally, Malawi鈥檚 Shire River Basin Management Program and Niger鈥檚 Community Action Program target women鈥檚 needs as caretakers. But most reviewed projects do not address unpaid care work. Doing so would improve economic and human development and reduce gender inequality.
Citation
Bibler, S.; Zuckerman, E. The care connection: The World Bank and women’s unpaid care work in select sub-Saharan African countries. UNU-WIDER, Helsinki, Finland (2013) 42 pp. ISBN 978-92-9230-708-0 [WIDER Working Paper No. 2013/131]