Covid-19, Shining a Light on the Incredible Resilience of African Women

MULTIMEDIA

• In Western and Central Africa, as in the rest of the world, women have been the first victims of the social and economic repercussions of the crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Often working in the informal sector, they are at greater risk of losing their jobs and have no social protections to cushion the impact of this shock. Even when they manage to keep their jobs, school and day-care closures force them to juggle work with child care and schooling responsibilities, not to mention household tasks.

  This situation has exacerbated the inequalities between men and women, revealing the enormous challenges that governments must address in order to enable women to prosper socially and economically while contributing to the economic transformation of their countries.

  Women are an essential asset and have shown immense resilience during the pandemic. No country can achieve its full potential as long as vast differences persist between men and women. To combat gender inequality, policies in favor of girls must be implemented and women's equality must be promoted.

  For example, in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, the Sahel Women's Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Project (SWEDD) is, with assistance from the World Bank, helping to keep girls in school and to expand their future opportunities. This project also combats violence against women by emphasizing prevention, particularly through a strong commitment from policy makers, civil society, members of parliament, and religious and traditional leaders.

  Niger, which has the highest fertility rate in the world, has also adopted bold reforms to address child marriage and early childbearing.

• Ousmane Diagana

  Ousmane Diagana is the Regional Vice President for Western and Central Africa as of July 1, 2020. In this position, Mr. Diagana leads relations with 22 countries, and oversees a portfolio of projects, technical assistance and financial resources worth more than $38 billion. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Diagana was the Vice President of the World Bank Group Human Resources. In that role, he provided overall strategic leadership on human resource matters to the entire World Bank Group and oversaw the development and implementation of the World Bank Group People Strategy, and Human Resources policies, programs and services. Mr. Diagana is recognized as an organizational leader, personal mentor and a professional role model. In 2009, Mr. Diagana received the Good Manager Award from the World Bank Group Staff Association in recognition of his leadership skills.

  Dr Aissatou Sophie Gladima

  Dr Aissatou Sophie Gladima is Minister of Petroleum and Energy of Senegal. Former Head of the Water and Research Commission of the Global Water Partnership Monitoring Committee, Dr. Gladima was the National Coordinator of the Senegal Wetlands Network of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Dr Gladima was Technical Advisor to the Prime Minister's Office, in charge of mines and hydraulics, President of the Board of Directors of the National Institute of Pedology and then Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and ICT. She is a member of the board of the African Association of Women Geologist, President of the Geological Society of Senegal and of the Senegalese section of the African Association of Women in Geosciences. Dr Gladima has also served as the West Africa Advisor to the Geological Society of Africa.

  Angélique Kidjo

  Angélique Kidjo, four-time Grammy Award winner is one of the greatest artists in international music today, a creative force with thirteen albums to her name. Time Magazine has called her 'Africa's premier diva'. The BBC has included her in its list of the continent's 50 most iconic figures, and in 2011 The Guardian listed her as one of their Top 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World. Forbes Magazine has ranked Angelique as the first woman in their list of the Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa.

  Dr. Diene Keita

  Dr. Diene Keita is a former Minister for Cooperation and Africa Integration for Guinea. In June 2020, she was appointed Deputy Executive Director for Programmes, United Nations Population Fund, by Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres. She has held leadership roles in UNDP and UNFPA serving in several countries which includes; United States of America, Niger, Burkina Faso , Burundi , Haiti , Senegal , Ethiopia, Mauritania, Benin, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria.

  Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim

  Environmental activist and member of Chad's pastoralist Mbororo community, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim began advocating for Indigenous rights and environmental protection at age 16, founding the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT) to introduce new income revenue activities for women and collaborative tools such as 3D participatory mapping to build sustainable ecosystems management and reduction of nature-based resource conflicts. Her vision is to grow support for both traditional knowledge and science to improve resilience to climate change especially for rural communities.

  Djaïli Amadou Amal

  Djaïli Amadou Amal is a Cameroonian writer committed to the fight against social discrimination and improving women's condition in the Sahel. In 2012, following her participation in the International Visitors Leadership Program in the US, dedicated to female leadership, Djaili Amadou Amal founded the Association Femmes du Sahel through which she works for the education and development of women in North Cameroon. In 2020, her book Les Impatientes won the Goncourt prize for high school students and the Choix Goncourt de l'Orient. She is nominated by France 24 among the ten women who marked the year 2020. Djaïli Amadou Amal is an Officer of the National Order.

  Rabiatou Harouna Moussa

  Rabiatou Harouna Moussa is a software engineer and co-founder of WO'MEN Dev. She is a citizen engagement, gender and digital consultant for the World Bank and works on some digital innovation projects. Previously, Rabia worked as an ICT expert for several United Nations agencies. This 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow, 2019 Global Pathfinder Fellow and 2019 World Bank Blog4Dev Winner for Niger is committed to promoting digital literacy, women empowerment, inclusive and sustainable societies.

  Estelle Youssouffa

  Moderator

  Estelle Youssouffa is a French independent bilingual broadcast journalist. She is also a communication and international affairs consultant. With 20 years of experience as a TV news anchor and investigative journalist, she also delivers global strategic analysis to CEOs and hosts international conferences. Estelle has been working for France 2's foreign affairs program 'Un Oeil sur la Planète', TV5 Monde, Al Jazeera English and LCI.