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.

2025 marked the year in which the West and Central Africa Feminist Economists Taskforce consolidated its work, after its launch in 2024, and advanced gender integration in fiscal, care, green economy, and procurement policies. Through the work of the West and Central Africa Feminist Economist Taskforce, UN Women multiplied by 3 its normative impact in the economy of the region, with 8 new laws and policies adopted in 2025 (and several more in progress) in areas such as affirmative procurement, care reform, green finance and jobs and planning and budgeting, including at decentralized level. This was accompanied by institutional strengthening of stakeholders to formulate and implement programmes, and policies to deliver better economic opportunities and access to resource for women and girls. Overall, 660 institutions have improved their understanding and knowledge of the link between gender equality and macroeconomics and can identify the main reforms to accelerate women’s participation in the economy in West and Central Africa. These outcome-level results were achieved through several key outputs. A total of 48 multi-stakeholder policy dialogues were conducted, including 13 on the care economy trade and innovative finance in Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Nigeria and at the regional level, and 32 on the green economy, including dialogues on NDCs in Liberia, Nigeria, and Mali. The RO also collaborated with regional platforms and organisations like UNFCCC and the ECOWAS COP. In addition, 3 dialogues advanced affirmative procurement in Senegal and Nigeria, while additional processes addressed trade and women’s cross-border participation in Liberia. Furthermore, thanks to the support of the Taskforce, Côte d’Ivoire enacted a decree to extend parental leave provisions for public servants, and Mali adopted a ministerial decree to establish a National Care Committee. In parallel, 6 new national strategies and action plans were adopted, ranging from Côte d’Ivoire’s mayoral declaration on prioritizing care investments to Nigeria’s gender-responsive public procurement policy and Mali’s gender-responsive entrepreneurship strategy.

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.

The outcome level progress of UN Women's initiatives and activities in West and Central Africa in 2024 includes several key areas: West and Central Africa Feminist Economists Taskforce : This taskforce is part of the broader initiative to promote gender-responsive economic policies and strategies, to accelerate normative outcomes in the area of women’s economic empowerment in the region. Policy Dialogues : As a result of the Feminist Economist Taskforce, multiple multi-stakeholder dialogue processes have been conducted to promote engagement of governments with civil society and other partners to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. Specific dialogues include: Mali : Focused on the care economy. Côte d’Ivoire : Addressed social protection and the care economy. Nigeria : Included private sector participation on the care economy. Liberia : Focused on Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) policies. These dialogues have been instrumental in leading normative change and the dynamic is expected to be maintained in the future National Policy Analyses National policy analyses identifying opportunities for reform to accelerate women’s participation in the economy have been conducted in four countries. Action Plans for Care Reform : Innovative models of care service provision and advocacy for the right to care are being implemented. Two action plans for care reform and national committees to accompany the reform process have been established in Mali and Côte d’Ivoire. Legal Reforms : Efforts are being made to reform discriminatory laws and policies. This includes policy and legal reviews and capacity building for public and private sectors to ensure gender-responsive laws and policies. Specific reforms include: Adoption of one legal reform on affirmative procurement in Nigeria. One national policy on green jobs in Senegal. One regional declaration on women’s access to green finance in West Africa. Two action plans for care reform in Mali and Côte d’Ivoire. These initiatives reflect UN Women's commitment to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in West and Central Africa.