Make Women a Priority
IMF Blog, March 24, 2017
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: The Editors
- Published: March 24, 2017
Overview
- Publication: The Editors
- Date: March 24, 2017
- Theme: Inclusion and gender; focus on challenges facing women and youth in low-income countries, with emphasis on Africa.
Challenges for African Women and Youth
- Africa has the largest number of people between the ages of 15 and 29.
- Women the world over often find themselves on the bottom rung of the employment ladder looking up.
- In low-income countries, the obstacles can be enormous.
- The challenge for African governments is to provide opportunities to young people, particularly young women.
Risks and Long-term Implications
- "If we don't do anything to structurally transform African economies, to make sure jobs remain on the continent, it means that we are bringing up young people for labor on other continents.”
Policy Discussion and IMF Activities
- The IMF is hosting a conference on gender and macroeconomics to discuss:
- innovative empirical and theoretical research on gender and macroeconomics,
- the policy implications,
- a focus on the challenges of low-income and developing countries.
- Policy priority highlighted: ensuring structural transformation of African economies to create and retain jobs on the continent.
Key Recommendations and Statements
- "African governments have to make Africa women their priority."
- "We can no longer walk ahead with 50 percent of the population left behind."
Multimedia
- The page includes a podcast featuring Hilma Mote of the African Region’s International Trade Union Confederation discussing the challenges African women and youth face given the continent’s rapidly growing labor force.
Source: Make Women a Priority — The Editors, March 24, 2017