Outcome WCA_D_2.1

A comprehensive and dynamic set of global norms and standards on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is strengthened and translated into gender-responsive laws, policies, and institutions in West and Central Africa Region.

In the reporting period, UN Women WCA has supported Country office to improve the integration of gender equality in laws including in areas of areas of affirmative procurement, migration policy, unpaid care and climate policy.

A comprehensive and dynamic set of global norms and standards on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is strengthened and translated into gender-responsive laws, policies, and institutions in West and Central Africa Region.

In 2022, UN Women RO has been influential in positioning gender in post-covid19 recovery policies and reforms in the region. the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement organized the “AfCFTA Conference of Women and Youth in Trade”, the first-ever continental gender and trade policy advocacy, through UN Women’s support via its three regional offices of Arab States, East and Southern Africa and West and Central Africa, https://au-afcfta.org/wyit/ a West African Care advocacy coalition platform established to spur policy evidence, advocacy and change for women’s economic empowerment in the region. This was under the initiative of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the African Development Bank, the UEMOA commission, UNECA and UN Women https://africa.unwomen.org/fr/stories/nouvelle/2022/10/colloque-international-pour-lautonomisation-economique-des-femmes-en-afrique-de-louest Key priorities to support women and girls participation in the green economy in Africa have been integrated in CSW66th Outcome document for Africa; and ECOWAS has adopted a Roadmap for Implementation of CSW66th which includes a pillar on ‘placing women at the center of the green economy’ with key recommendations and reforms. This is the result of UN Women’s research (joint report with AfDB on Green Jobs for Women in Africa); advocacy, and partnership brokering in West Africa (AfDB, GGGI, ECOWAS).

A comprehensive and dynamic set of global norms and standards on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is strengthened and translated into gender-responsive laws, policies, and institutions in West and Central Africa Region.

In 2024, UN Women has launched the West and Central Africa Feminist Economists Taskforce to accelerate normative outcomes in the area of women’s economic empowerment in the region. As a result of this, a number of multi stakeholders policy dialogues have been conducted this year: 1 in Mali on the care economy, 1 in Côte d’Ivoire on social protection and the care economy, 1 in Nigeria on the Care Economy, including with private sector participation, 1 in Liberia on WEE policies. This is expected to lead to normative change in the future. At the end of 2024, national policy analyses identifying opportunities for reform to accelerate women’s participation in the economy had been conducted in 4 countries; and two action plans for care reform, and national committees to accompany the reform process had been established in Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. In addition to this, one regional policy dialogue on affirmative procurement and one national multi-stakeholder dialogue (Senegal), and two regional policy dialogues have been conducted in the area of gender and the green economy leading to reform in the case of Senegal Green Jobs Strategy or expected to lead to normative change in the future. Overall, UN Women in WCA has supported the adoption of one legal reform on affirmative procurement in Nigeria, 1 national policy on green jobs in Senegal, 1 regional declaration on women’s access to green finance in West Africa, and 2 action plans for care reform in Mali and Cote d’Ivoire in 2024.