Africa: UN report calls for extractive sector policy reforms to increase women's participation, empowerment
'ECA calls for women-centred policy reforms in mining across Africa', 27 Aug 2015: A new report…by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)…has called for a policy overhaul in mining…The research, partnered by UN Women and featuring case studies from Zambia, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Guinea-Conakry, found that the legal and policy framework in the mining and extractive industries make it difficult for active participation and inclusion of women…[T]he ECA…said access to affordable capital financing was identified…as the single most influential constraint for women in mining. The research…aimed at…the mining sector…propose[s] recommendations that integrate gender equality and equity to advance women’s economic participation and economic empowerment…Ms Thokozile Ruzvidzo…ECA Coordinator for Africa Centre for Gender…[said] the participation of women in the economic sector and specifically the extractive industries was central to Africa’s structural transformation…