Gender equality speaks to equal rights and opportunities for both men and women; It is a key ingredient to attaining economic prosperity.  African countries continue to join the rest of the world in adopting laws that are pro-equality such as the Convention on Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW is the authoritative legal instrument on women’s human rights and a binding source of international law for those states that have ratified it, setting out the meaning of internationally recognized norms and standards.

It’s undeniable that Africa has made decent strides in trying to eradicate inequality and elevate the status of women. Recently, Sierra Leone lifted a ban on pregnant girls attending school, Rwanda and South Africa have achieved gender parity in their cabinets all this progress is commendable. In trying to achieve gender equality, and despite the commendable effort by African countries, there is however a gap as far as budgeting and infrastructure are concerned.

What is Gender Responsive Infrastructure? 

Gender-responsive infrastructure is that which is built with gender consideration in mind taking into account the different needs and constraints of men and women as  consumers, beneficiaries, and users of the infrastructure. This is the kind of infrastructure that is safe and accessible to all users. Infrastructure that is gender-responsive is designed, located, and priced in a manner that ensures maximum benefit to society as a whole without gender limitations.  

Gender stereotypes and past discrimination has seen men dominate the infrastructure that is access to water, roads, education, energy, and health. The designers of these pieces of infrastructure  are largely men and therefore tailor everything to suit their needs with the women being left with no option but strain to fit in. 

How does Gender Blind Infrastructure affect women?

Infrastructure is built in a highly men-centric manner that  women are stuck in what seems like a man’s world with infrastructure that does not take into account their needs and effective use. This is a very subtle form of discrimination and even then it should be done away with as it weighs down society’s progress.  Article 14 of CEDAW, emphasizes that states should take appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against rural women and ensure they participate in and benefit from rural development. This can be achieved by doing a gender analysis and identifying gender-specific needs and priorities and implementing budgets and infrastructure along these lines. 

How to build Gender Responsive Infrastructure

We can consciously improve utility and accessibility to infrastructure by making it gender-sensitive in the following ways

1. Women’s Participation in making decisions pertaining to infrastructure

“Women belong in all places where decisions are made’’

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Women should be in the frontline in steering research, analysis, and implementation of budgets and resources dictating infrastructure. If we relinquish to men the duty to decide on matters touching on infrastructure then we are nurturing gender blindness and the repercussions are stalled societal developments. For instance, women should not be left out in deliberating how countries are to bounce back to recovery after the COVID- 19 pandemic.

2. Transport Sector

Are our transport systems friendly to women? Let’s think about utility and access. Poorly lit streets catalyze sexual harassment and all forms of violence against women. Lack of safety in these spaces affects women’s daily productivity and access to other rights such as education, health, thus  hindering them from achieving their highest potential, this is a setback to families and the society at large.

Women need to feel safe and comfortable on our roads, whether driving, walking, or using public transport. This can only be achieved by tailoring mobility infrastructure to meet the needs of women. Street lighting, safe crossing points, and access to public transport by women including such transport that meets the needs of women living with disabilities.

3. Schools

Educate the girl child has and is still a campaign that is worthwhile. We have National laws touching on access to education for the girl-child. Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda have made education free a great step towards attaining gender parity. This notwithstanding, way too many girls are not able to go to school due to lack of sanitation facilities such as toilets and clean water. Improving access to these facilities is paramount in achieving gender equality through education.

Socio-cultural practices and gender roles pose barriers that prevent girls from progressing in education. So many girls across Africa juggle between performing house chores and attending school this takes much of their school time and thus they are disadvantaged compared to the boys. Having more boarding schools for girls is one of steering away from gender blind infrastructure as girls will concentrate more on their school work. Boarding schools are also safe havens for girls not to be forced into menaces such as early marriages or Female Genital Mutilation.

4. Access to water

Hand Cleaning is the most frontline defense against Covid 19 while lots of the women in rural areas and those living in informal settlements lack access to clean water making them and their families more vulnerable to the disease.

Availability of clean water also reduces the unpaid labor of searching for water  and women will have more productive hours to contribute to economic development. Going in search of water in far places also exposes women to violence. 

5. Unpaid work

Women spend so many hours performing unpaid work in homes such as cleaning, looking for water, and taking care of children. Gender-sensitive infrastructure will bridge this gap by making resources such as water and affordable clean energy available.

6. Technology

Access to technology and control of it, and the ability to create and shape it, is a fundamental issue of women’s human rights. Most  rural women have no access to internet services and mobile phones with this their basic communication is curtailed. Women’s are also key in designing technology

7. COVID-19 and Gender Responsive Infrastructure

Globally women make up 70% of healthcare workers yet they face challenges such as lack of Personal protective equipment fit for women’s bodies, underrepresentation in decision making, and lesser pay compared to their male counterparts.

Women have been more affected by the pandemic as it saw heightened cases of Gender-Based Violence and increased unpaid care as women were now home for longer times. As economies bounce back from the effects of COVID 19, women should be included in coming up with strategies for their countries and gender lens should be a yardstick in designing infrastructure.

Wayforward

Governments, infrastructure developers, investors, financiers, and other actors stakeholders need to ensure that gender is always factored in the infrastructure design and revenue allocation. This will alleviate the suffering of women in attaining their full potential and we will achieve a just world.