The Role of Empowering Women and Achieving Gender Equality to the Sustainable Development of Ethiopia

Bayeh, Endalcachew. 2016. ‘The Role of Empowering Women and Achieving Gender Equality to the Sustainable Development of Ethiopia’. Pacific Science Review B: Humanities and Social Sciences 2 (1): 37–42. 

The paper interlinked gender equality and women economic empowerment as an indicator of sustainable development. According to the author, in Ethiopia gender-based discrimination and inequalities are contributing to low economic empowerment for women. Women’s economic empowerment is defined as women’s ability to make their own choices and decisions in their life’s. Such empowerment has a widespread impact on the life of women, the community and larger society. Women’s empowerment can be supported through education, training and awareness creation that aims at equipping women with the required support so that they can make decisions and choices. In connection to this the author discussed the three pillars of sustainable development which includes economic development, social development, and environmental protection.

Ethiopia is marked as one of the fastest growing countries in the world. However, when it comes to women labor force participation it is surrounded by various bottlenecks.   Males dominate development projects and women dominate unpaid care. Women are underrepresented  in the formal sector, lack access to training and credit services. Education no doubt plays a pivotal role towards women empowerment, and this has been indicated by various research. However, Gender parity in Ethiopian educational institutions is very minimal. Women are discriminated against when it comes to school enrolment and completion due to various traditional, and customary rules. This in turn leads the women to have an unplanned family size thereby inhibiting their economic engagement.

The author also tried to interlink women’s empowerment with human rights. According to the author, human rights are the rights inherited by all human beings regardless of sex, race, and other grounds. He also enunciated that unless human rights are protected and enforced development shall not be perceived. However, in Ethiopia women are denied this basic right when compared with men due to the existing gender bias and discrimination. The author noted that respect, protection and implementation of women’s human rights will enable women to exercise self-worth, utilise their potential and help them economically. 

Finally, the author explained how women’s empowerment can facilitate environmental protections. Accordingly, without active participation of women any efforts towards environmental protection are futile. This is because it is  rural women that  fetch water, collect firewood, do the cooking, washing and other tasks that are linked with the environment. Accordingly, women are an irreplaceable source of expertise regarding environmental protection and more informed on the sustainable use of the environment.

Generally, the author called on the government to act towards women empowerment as a means for sustainable development. This shall include provision of equitable participation and enhancement of women decision-making roles, and value women participation for environmental protection as irreplaceable.