Many economic empowerment programs focus on increasing women's labour force participation. But without addressing their disproportionate burden of unpaid and exhausting care work, women hardly benefit from more hours of paid employment.
Research from Central and East Africa shows that, despite facing engrained gender barriers, women are important participants in the economic activity surrounding artisanal and small-scale mining, and some are forging new economic pathways.
While most women across Africa still have no legal rights to land, we have seen several countries make progress toward legal protection through land laws or constitutional changes.