Take better care of the hand that rocks the cradle
When women’s health is compromised, entire family structures fall apart, with long-term impacts on their communities
Africa’s women have made a great deal of progress in recent decades, but much more remains to be done to ensure their economic empowerment, safety and good health. While women across the continent can now take their rightful place in industry and government, millions more remain isolated, oppressed and underserved. But women are drivers of any economy, and possibly more so in Africa. They birth hope and continuity. They inspire and invest in their families. Time and again, women’s empowerment programmes have shown long-term expanded benefits for their families and the communities they live in. In fact, studies have found women tend to invest 90% of their incomes back into their families, compared with a 30% to 40% investment in their families by men. Traditionally, men were the hunters and women the nurturers, and this has not changed much, particularly in the rural context in which millions of Africa’s women live, keeping their homes in order and enabling their family members to ac...
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