AFP, Nairobi :
The UN on Sunday urged African nations to close a gender gap that is costing an estimated $95 billion (84 billion euros) a year in lost economic potential.
“Where there are high levels of gender inequality, societies are missing out,” UN Development Fund (UNDP) director Helen Clark told AFP.
“They are not harnessing the full potential of women, and that costs economically, at the family level, community level and the national level.”
Citing agriculture as an example, Clark said that in many African nations, women are banned from owning or inheriting land, making it hard for them to borrow money.
“They then don’t have the finance to buy the best seeds, the best fertilisers. So women, despite working very, very hard, end up producing less, being less productive,” she said in Nairobi, where she was attending the Tokyo International Conference on African Development.
The UNDP said in a statement that male-female inequality in sub-Saharan Africa costs the continent some $95 billion each year in lost economic potential.
Clark meanwhile noted the progress made in some nations, including in Rwanda, where 65 percent of elected MPs are female.
The UN on Sunday urged African nations to close a gender gap that is costing an estimated $95 billion (84 billion euros) a year in lost economic potential.
“Where there are high levels of gender inequality, societies are missing out,” UN Development Fund (UNDP) director Helen Clark told AFP.
“They are not harnessing the full potential of women, and that costs economically, at the family level, community level and the national level.”
Citing agriculture as an example, Clark said that in many African nations, women are banned from owning or inheriting land, making it hard for them to borrow money.
“They then don’t have the finance to buy the best seeds, the best fertilisers. So women, despite working very, very hard, end up producing less, being less productive,” she said in Nairobi, where she was attending the Tokyo International Conference on African Development.
The UNDP said in a statement that male-female inequality in sub-Saharan Africa costs the continent some $95 billion each year in lost economic potential.
Clark meanwhile noted the progress made in some nations, including in Rwanda, where 65 percent of elected MPs are female.
