Gender gaps in Togo cut across many dimensions. Inequality starts in childhood, when girls are disadvantaged in access to schooling because of prevalent social norms and gender roles. It continues into adolescence, when a larger share of girls starts dropping out of school (with fewer than one in two completing secondary education), unable to continue education because of a number of factors, including child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and time use patterns shaped by gender norms. In adolescence and adulthood, women face the constraints of limited education and economic opportunities, restrictive gender roles that leave women little time for participation in the labor force, financial inequities, high levels of acceptance of violence against women, health risks, and a lack of agency and decision-making capacity. This background paper to the Poverty and Gender Assessment Togo (2022) highlights the importance of addressing gender disparities to achieve continued poverty reduction in Togo.
Authors
- Citation
- “ World Bank . 2024 . Gender Disparities and Poverty - A Background Paper for the Togo Poverty and Gender Assessment 2022 . © Washington, DC: World Bank . http://hdl.handle.net/10986/41697 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO . ”
- Collection(s)
- Women in Development and Gender Study French PDFs Available
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1596/41697
- Identifier externaldocumentum
- 34328743
- Identifier internaldocumentum
- 34328743
- Published in
- United States of America
- Region country
- Togo
- Report
- 190772
- Rights
- CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO
- Rights Holder
- World Bank
- Rights URI
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/igo
- UNIT
- EFI-AFR2-POV-Poverty and Equity (EAWPV)
- URI
- https://hdl.handle.net/10986/41697
- date disclosure
- 2024-06-12
- region administrative
- Africa Western and Central (AFW)
- theme
- Inclusive Growth,Gender,Human Development and Gender,Data Development and Capacity Building,Economic Policy,Social Protection,Social Development and Protection,Public Finance Management,Economic Growth and Planning,Disease Control,Pandemic Response,Domestic Revenue Administration,Public Sector Management,Data production, accessibility and use,Social protection delivery systems,Social Safety Nets
Files
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments 4
- Executive Summary 5
- Introduction: Gender Inequality and Poverty in Togo 11
- Gender Gaps in Endowments 17
- Gender gaps in education 17
- Gender disparities in health accumulation 20
- Gender and Agency 28
- Gender-based violence 28
- Child marriage 32
- Decision-making in the private and the public spheres 35
- Gender Gaps in Economic Opportunities 39
- Labor force participation 39
- Access to finance and assets 44
- Land ownership and use 45
- Unpaid domestic work 50
- Policy Options 54
- Focus on adolescent girls 55
- Assist girls in completing primary and secondary school 56
- Increase access to family planning, and enhance reproductive and sexual health, particularly for adolescent girls 56
- Reduce child and early marriage 57
- Support female farmers to build and sustain their businesses 57
- Prevent GBV and address its consequences 58
- Close gender gaps in decision-making and women’s political participation 59
- Improve women’s economic opportunities through access to quality employment and enhanced productivity of self-employed women 60
- Strategically address the root causes of observed outcomes 61
- References 63
