The Young Women’s Knowledge and Leadership Institute

(YOWLI)

Presentation by Jemila Abdulai ’09Economics & French Double Major

YOWLI 2008 An initiative of the African Women’s Millennium Initiative on Poverty and Human Rights (AWOMI)

“Our mandate as activists is not to tell the women and youth in our societies what to do. Our mandate is to raise awareness about the existing situations and the options available. After that we leave the

actual decision-making to them.”

- YOWLI 2008 Participants

A Gender-Analysis of Macroeconomic Policy

•Do housewives or ‘stay at home’ mothers work?

•Do they deserve to be paid for what they do?

•What are the work conditions that women face in the formal workplace today?

•Are women’s issues taken into account in policy-making?

What the Statistics Say &

Why The Statistics Are WrongGross National Income Per Capita (2007 Estimate)

Ghana- $590Senegal - $820

France - $38,500United States - $46,040

Source: The World Bank Website

The Pink Lake / “Le Lac Rose”

Photo Credit: http://www.unregard.net/dotclear/index.php/2005/07/21/10-petit-jeu-mais-pourquoi-le-lac-rose-est-il-rose

Interview Questions1.Who works at the pink lake? Men? Women? Children?2.Who does what?3.What processes are involved in extracting the salt?4.Is the salt exported? Who handles it?5.Where is the salt exported to? What is it used for?6.What are the work conditions?7.How much money does each of the work groups make?

Things We Noticed While Interviewing:

•Many men sitting around, had ample time to talk

•Men hesitant to talk about the work conditions as it relates to women

•Women continuously working and only one woman sparing about 5 minutes to talk to us

•Women working with children around ; men alone

•Women afraid to answer certain questions when men were in vicinity

Life at the Pink Lake

Photo Credit: Jemila Abdulai

Life at the Pink Lake

Photo Credit: Jemila Abdulai

Life at the Pink Lake

Photo Credit: Jemila Abdulai

Life at the Pink Lake

Photo Credit: Jemila Abdulai

Life at the Pink Lake

Photo Credit: Jemila Abdulai

Life at the Pink Lake

Photo Credit: Jemila Abdulai

Life at the Pink Lake

Photo Credit: Jemila Abdulai

Life at the Pink Lake

Photo Credit: Jemila Abdulai

Life at the Pink Lake

Photo Credit: Jemila Abdulai

Findings

1.Who works at the Pink Lake? Answer:

Both men and women. Women usually take their young children with them to work.

Boat Owners (Men)

Canoe Workers (Men)

Basin Workers (Women)

2. Who does what?

Men harvest large deposits of salt from lake center using canoes.

Men sell pieces of artwork to tourists. Men act as tour guides and transport tourists across

the lake.

Women harvest small deposits from lake edges using bowls.

Women sell small items like fruit and jewelry to tourists.

3.What processes are involved in extracting the salt?

Men harvest salt and transport them to the shore using canoes. It takes about 3 hours to fill a canoe

with salt.

Women carry basins of salt on their heads. A basin of salt weighs about 60kg, and the women make 50

trips per canoe per day.

Men handle bagging and pricing of salt.

4. Is the salt exported? Who handles it?

Salt is used locally for cooking and so on.

The Senegalese government is not directly involved in exporting the salt. Rich business men

from local and international companies buy directly from the workers and handle the exportation.

The workers from the 5 villages around the lake have formed a cooperative society to negotiate prices.

5. Where is the salt exported to? What is it used for?

Answer: Exported mainly to other West African countries

(particularly francophone countries) and Europe.

The salt is used mainly for cooking in the West African destinations.

The salt is used during on roads to prevent accidents –personal, automobile etc.

6.What are the work conditions?Answer:

Workers have no form of support from the government and have to pay fees to the cooperative

society in order to negotiate prices.

Workers suffer from skin diseases due to overexposure of skin to salt in the water. Women suffer the most since they have more direct contact

with water.

Workers work in extreme weather conditions; no permanent structures.

5. How much money does each work group make?

1,000 CFA = $2 (approx.)Canoe Workers (Men)

Basin Workers (Women)

8,000 CFA ($16)

1,000 CFA ($2)

Daily Wage

The current minimum daily wage for agricultural workers in Senegal is approx. 1440 CFA ($3).

On average, male workers at the Pink Lake earn 8 times more than female workers in a single day!

Minimum Wage Information: Official Website of the Govt. of SenegalExchange rate information from http://www.xe.com/

What the Findings Imply•There is a wage discrepancy between the two gender-

groups.•The women workers who are excluded from the

decision-making process are the most vulnerable and highly exploited.

•Children are ultimately impacted because the women who are responsible for them do not have access to the

resources to ensure their well-being.•Since women don’t earn enough to feed themselves and

their families, there is little possibility of saving or investing. As a result, women remain the most

overworked and the most underpaid.

What Difference Can a Policy with a Gender Component Make?

•Ensure that female workers earn the same wage as their male counterparts for equal work done.

•Provide necessary support to female workers with children in order to invest in the country’s future human

resource.•Mandate local and international corporations to institute

viable work conditions for their workers.•Provide a support system for women workers who are exploited and hold perpetrators responsible for their

actions.

Importance of a Gender Component to Macroeconomic

Policy•Women make up over half of the world’s population.

•What affects women essentially affects the entire society.

•Policies without a gender component are bound to fail in the long run

-they neglect the majority.

•Negligence of “little things” leads to a sea of problems e.g. feminization of poverty.

Developments in Gender Economics

•Gender Economics is a relatively new field in economics.

•Institutions like the World Bank have recognized its importance in recent years. As such, “the World Bank

adopted a gender mainstreaming and development strategy in 2001.”

•The results of an ongoing Policy Research Report by the World Bank show that “societies that discriminate by

gender tend to experience less rapid economic growth and poverty reduction than societies that

treat males and females more equally.”Source: The World Bank ‘s Gender and Development Website

Personal Reflections

“So You Don’t Forget Me”Photo Credit: Jemila Abdulai

Acknowledgements

My familyPatricia Schneider

Phyllis KodiAWOMI staff

YOWLI 2008 participants and facilitators

CDC

Thanks!