Gender and sustainable development in Africa

In this course, gender issues will be examined that impact the development agenda of African countries. Among the stipulations of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals enacted by the United Nations, the 5th Sustainable Development Goal went further with the intention to “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. The African Union, 2063 agenda, gave priority to women for their crucial role in rallying for an inclusive development. In Africa, despite the agreement of States to embrace the sustainable development goals and the 2063 African Union Agenda, challenges are still rampant and a lot of work remains to be done in achieving this goal, pertinent to women’s growth and development.

This class is an interdisciplinary course and will incorporate discourses of history, sociology, and anthropology. The course will: 1) Provide a critical analysis on sustainable development as a concept interlinked with practice. 2) Address contemporary challenges that commensurate with "gender" and development in African countries. 3) Examine the contemporary elements useful in the redefinition of development policies particularly gender inequalities. We will look at the following thematic areas : Pre-colonial economy and colonial economy, monetized economy and non-monetized economy, gendered division of labor, gendered economy, social ascension, public policies of development, extractive industries, and climate change.

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