Production, reproduction and empowerment: the future of women in Africa
Women in Africa are congregated in poorly paid and precarious work (ILO, 2016) and have very high rates of school dropout, mortality and childhood morbidity. This is crucially linked to their role in childbirth and child-care. Women and girls still perform the bulk of unpaid domestic and care work, severely limiting their access to work with fair working conditions. Empowering women and achieving decent work is a vital element in developing a dynamic economy that includes the full political and social citizenship of African women, while supporting their care-giving roles.

This lecture focuses on young women (aged 15-24), who are at the cusp of reproduction and production. Drawing on the rich data sets collected by Young Lives, Professor Jo Boyden, Director of Young Lives, & Professor Sandra Fredman, Director of the Oxford Human Rights Hub, examine transitions of adolescent girls and boys from education to labour markets and how their opportunities are shaped by other intersecting transitions (family formation, marriage and parenthood). On the basis of this evidence, they will consider the role of legal frameworks in obstructing or facilitating women’s access to decent working conditions, the social support for care-giving roles, and ways of interrupting intergenerational transmission of poverty.
Date: 30 November 2017, 17:00 (Thursday, 8th week, Michaelmas 2017)
Venue: Oxford Martin School, 34 Broad Street OX1 3BD
Venue Details: Corner of Catte and Holywell Streets
Speakers: Professor Sandra Fredman (Oxford Martin Programme on Human Rights for Future Generations), Professor Jo Boyden (Director, Young Lives Study, Oxford Department of International Development)
Organising department: Oxford Martin School
Organiser: Clara Bowyer (University of Oxford, Oxford Martin School)
Organiser contact email address: events@oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk
Part of: Great Transitions: navigating 21st century challenges
Topics:
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/event/2491
Booking email: events@oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk
Cost: free
Audience: Public
Editor: Clara Bowyer