During the past week, the National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW) branch in Anseba, one of Eritrea’s six regions (locally called ‘zobas’), conducted its annual six-month activity assessment meeting. The NUEW, local government officials, and a range of stakeholders, reviewed the progress made on outlined plans, discussed various challenges encountered, and identified different lessons learned in the course of its work conducted over the past six months. Additionally, the meeting saw attendees spend some time laying out a series of tangible steps needing to be taken in order to successfully implement the year’s remaining programs and initiatives, as well as exploring different aspects of the country’s five-year strategic plan for gender equality and development.

President of the NUEW, Tekea Tesfamical, offered important comments highlighting how gender-related issues are extremely significant and have considerable bearing on different dimensions of society. She also went on to encourage individuals, communities, institutions, and partners to work together to consolidate gender equality and empowerment, as both a moral imperative and way to drive development. Also speaking at the event were Colonel Tesfatsion Girmay, Director General of Social Service and chairman of the regional committee overseeing women’s development, who called for continued efforts to strengthen women’s participation in all national development programs, and Ambassador Abdella Musa, Governor of Anseba, who outlined the array of measures being taken by the regional administration to strengthen women and girls’ empowerment.

As was reflected in the points raised during the recent meeting in Anseba, the NUEW is a key national organization and it is engaged in extremely important, valuable work. Using that as a useful starting basis, the following paragraphs briefly trace the organization’s long history of valiant struggle, while also shedding light on progress achieved with regard to gender equality and empowerment in the country – made possible through the organization’s tireless work and invaluable contributions.

Decades of work toward equality and empowerment

The NUEW was established in 1979 with the complete backing and firm support of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front. During the long struggle for freedom, it not only helped to organize and mobilize Eritrean women as a core and integral part of the formidable armed liberation forces, it also played a fundamental role in sensitizing Eritrean society to the importance of a range of gender-related issues and promoting gender equality in all its manifestations.

Scholars and historians have described in detail how, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, Eritrean women’s valiant contributions to the armed struggle were distinguished and largely unparalleled in the annals of the history of liberation movements worldwide. In addition to comprising approximately one-third of all the liberation forces, Eritrean women also fought heroically on the frontlines and held a variety of strategic and leading positions in the field. As well, despite the challenges of a devastating conflict, and the residual, lingering effects of discrimination, the NUEW played a key role in helping to drive a number of important sociocultural changes.

Following Eritrea’s achievement of independence, the NUEW continued in its important work, reconstituting itself as an autonomous non-governmental organization dedicated to improving the status of the nation’s women and girls. Broadly, the organization’s mission is to ensure that all Eritrean women and girls, regardless of status, region, background, or any other characteristic, are able to confidently stand for their rights and equally participate in all aspects of life and sectors of society.

Since independence, some of the main objectives of the NUEW have included, among others: ensuring gender equality and women’s rights in political, economic, social, cultural, and all other spheres; increasing women’s social awareness and knowledge; endeavouring for the active participation of Eritrean women in overall development programmes in such a way that they also benefit from their efforts; promoting peace and development; and strengthening the NUEW in order to make it more efficient and influential.

Over the course of its decades-long history, the NUEW has significantly grown, both with regard to its overall membership, as well as to the scope of its work and the impacts that it has been able to make on the ground. At present, it has thousands of members of all ages and backgrounds, dispersed across all the nation’s villages, communities, and regions. As well, there are numerous active branches and members in countries around the world. (Today, there are active branches of varying sizes in countries in Africa, Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Australia.) These not only promote gender-related issues and empowerment of women in their communities, they also support the work of NUEW in Eritrea in various ways, from donating resources and sharing experiences to participating in campaigns, raising awareness of pressing issues, and conducting workshops or training programs. In effect, although members in Eritrea and from around the world may be separated by thousands of miles, they remain united in their vision and efforts for a more equitable nation.

The NUEW has continued to take on a wide range of social projects over the years to promote gender equality and support the empowerment of women and girls. For instance, it has established several professional training centres, as part of its broader aim of capacity-building, and works closely with the Ministry of Education to raise female enrolments and eradicate illiteracy. As well, it has maintained a legal counseling department, which has helped to significantly increase women’s knowledge and understanding of legal issues and their rights (especially with regard to issues such as divorce, alimony, paternity, inheritance, and land ownership, among other issues), while also fighting residual stigma and discrimination. Furthermore, the NUEW has campaigned to improve women’s access to healthcare, promote their inherent rights and dignity, and also supported their socioeconomic empowerment through training programs, skills development, as well as financial loans.

Important gender-related progress – with NUEW playing an invaluable role

Eritrea has made important improvements and registered notable progress in relation to gender equality and empowerment over the years. These forward strides are rooted in a number of different factors, from high-level political commitment and prioritization to investment of time and resources, among others. Of course, they have also been achieved through the tireless efforts and valuable, multifaceted contributions by the NUEW.

To briefly recap some of the improvements, life expectancy has jumped from less than 50 in 1991 to about 68 years at present, while the percentage of women beneficiaries within the national micro-credit and saving scheme today is about 56 percent, as compared to only 16 percent in 1995. Furthermore, female involvement in small-scale businesses has grown, with women now holding about 48 percent of business licenses issued nationwide – again, a considerable improvement from past years. As well, women account for marginally over half – about 51 percent – of the country’s total formal labor force, constitute about 46 percent of all employees holding managerial positions, and make up 22 and 29 percent of all members of the National Assembly and Regional Assemblies, respectively. The government’s commitment to ensure equal access to health services, water, and sanitation is also contributing to an array of positive health outcomes for women and girls, while rates of harmful traditional practices (from child marriage to FGM/C) have been reduced significantly.

Alongside all of the above, land, both for housing and commercial and subsistence farming, is equally distributed with men, and women’s financial inclusion, in terms of access to bank loans and use of various financial services continues to trend in a positive direction. Within education, important progress has been made. Female literacy has increased steadily (youth female youth literacy is above 93 percent, almost equal with males), while across all levels, female enrolment continues to steadily grow and the historically huge gender gap is being progressively narrowed. Parity between girls and boys has been achieved within middle education and it is almost fully achieved in pre-primary and secondary education, while improvements continue to be registered at the primary level. Enrolment at the tertiary level among males and females has remained almost equal, a positive transformation compared to past decades.

As a result of different factors, including the leading role played by the NUEW, girls and women are tangibly contributing within all areas of society and in many diverse, important ways, ultimately playing a vital role in families, communities, the nation’s socio-economic improvement, and its general development. Not only should this be applauded by all, but firmly supported and encouraged.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

The annual Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) for Africa confirms that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) weathered 2023 relatively well thanks to credible economic and social policy reforms. In particular, governments and central banks have started to shift attention from weathering global shocks to building credibility, capacity, and transparency.

One reflection of this is the region’s strong performance across multiple measures of Central Bank independence – an institutional provision that improves countries’ ability to reduce inflation and can improve investors’ perception of risks. However, countries were held back by low transparency and inadequate judicial oversight. Moreover, the improvements are not universal, as governments facing budget constraints linked to high debt service costs will need to work harder to attract private sector investments to stimulate economic growth.

The CPIA is an annual diagnostic tool for countries eligible for financing from the International Development Association (IDA)*, the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries. The 2024 report provides an assessment of the quality of policies and institutions in all 39 IDA–eligible countries in SSA for calendar year 2023. Countries are rated on a scale of 1 (low) to 6 (high) across 16 dimensions reflecting four areas: economic management, structural policies, policies for social inclusion and equity, and public sector management and institutions.

The average overall CPIA scores in SSA remained stable at 3.1 – the same aggregate score as the two previous years. A more detailed look at country assessments reveals that SSA has caught up with the average overall score for IDA countries in the rest of the world thanks to social policy reform, and credible fiscal policy improvement, and institutional provisions to promote economic stability.

“The CPIA review offers a chance to identify areas of relative weakness and engage in a dialogue around policy reforms that can produce better development outcomes,” said Andrew Dabalen, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa. 

The need to attract and sustain greater private sector investments comes out strongly from the 2024 report. “Private sector investments will need to pick up after years of investment growth coming from the public sector. High interest rates and public debt mean that the public sector can’t continue to do the heavy lifting, but there are huge opportunities around trade and the digital economy,” said Nicholas Woolley, the CPIA report’s main author.

In that respect, CPIA scores could provide guidance to international investors and businesses on the quality of institutions and efficacy of recent reforms – something that sometimes prevents interested partners from starting new activity in the region. Detailed scores for all 39 SSA countries are available online at https://www.worldbank.org/en/data/datatopics/cpia.

The report will be launched today in Accra, Ghana by Mr. Dabalen, with a panel discussion on policies to promote private sector growth moderated by Bernard Avle of Citi FM. The discussion is expected to cover all areas of the CPIA, including the importance of macroeconomic stability for the private sector, low-cost regulatory solutions to support trade and investment, and how education, health, and social inclusion boost local firm growth. The role of government transparency and accountability to avoid captured markets is also on the agenda.

*The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s low-income countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for its 75 client countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Since 1960, IDA has provided $552 billion to 115 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $36 billion over the last three years (FY21-FY23), with about 75% going to Africa. Learn more online: https://ida.worldbank.org #IDAworks

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The World Bank Group.

The Kenyan government and International Monetary Fund should work together to ensure that the IMF program and its implementation align with human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The focus should be on progressive revenue generation and accountability over public funds.

Following the recent nationwide protests, President William Ruto declined to sign Finance Bill 2024, which included regressive tax measures that risked undermining rights. Any alternative measures should relieve economic pressures by addressing the root causes of protesters’ anger.

“The widespread outrage sparked by proposed taxes on goods like sanitary pads and cooking oil in a country where corporate tax evasion is endemic should be a wake-up call to the Kenyan government and the IMF that they cannot sacrifice rights in the name of economic recovery,” said Sarah Saadoun, senior researcher on poverty and inequality at Human Rights Watch. “Economic sustainability can only be achieved with a new social contract that raises revenues fairly, manages them responsibly, and funds services and programs that allow everyone to realize their rights.”

Finance Bill 2024, in the context of an IMF program with Kenya, was expected to raise US$2.7 billion in additional revenues in the upcoming fiscal year, in part to meet IMF targets. The bill included several new tax provisions, such as removing exemptions from certain food items and a mobile money transfer tax, that would increase the cost of essential goods and services and fall heaviest on Kenyans with lower and middle incomes, as well as already marginalized groups such as women.

The IMF program was approved in 2021 to support Kenya’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and global inflation, as well as devastating cycles of droughts and floods made worse by climate change. An increase in interest rates has also forced the government to spend upward of half its tax revenues to service debt.

The Kenyan government has other options to raise revenue progressively and enhance trust in the government, Human Rights Watch said. Kenya’s tax-to-GDP ratio is around 15 percent, which is the minimum threshold according to the World Bank for a viable state and economic stability. 

The government could introduce tax reforms to better enforce existing tax rules, tackle mismanagement and corruption, and increase taxation on the wealthiest. Taxes on industries or products that harm the environment should also be designed so that they do not undermine rights, such as by using the revenues raised to compensate for their effects on low and middle-income people. 

Under human rights law, governments, and the international financial institutions that support them, are required to respond to economic crises in ways that do everything possible to protect and advance rights. They are expected to conduct and publish human rights impact assessments to ensure that proposed reforms, including to fiscal policy and public spending, best fulfill people’s economic, social, and cultural rights, paying special attention to risks to women and economically marginalized groups. These assessments should be transparent, include public participation, and shape the measures that are ultimately enacted.

The IMF has committed $4.4 billion to Kenya, and the World Bank anticipates $12 billion in support from 2024 to 2026. Yet, the program negotiated with the IMF requires steep spending cuts and increased revenues. A June IMF statement praised the Finance Bill and the upcoming fiscal year’s proposed budget as in line with the required “sizable and upfront fiscal consolidation,” referring to reducing public expenditure or increasing revenues. 

Human Rights Watch analysis of such measures shows that they frequently harm human rights. Research has also shown that these measures tend to worsen inequality, and “a large upfront fiscal consolidation can be particularly damaging,” according to the Independent Evaluation Office, an independent IMF entity. 

The IMF program in Kenya has already introduced sweeping reforms, some of which exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis. These include doubling the value added tax on fuel without any compensatory measures and other efforts to raise revenues that contributed to financial hardship. Yet, the public has seen little benefit from additional revenues and the government has continued to fall short of IMF targets.

The IMF statement advised strengthening the so-called “social safety net,” referring to social security programs that provide income support, while also expressing support for the approved budget. According to an analysis submitted to the Budget and Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly by Bajeti Hub, a nongovernmental group formerly called International Budget Partnership Kenya that advocates for budget transparency, the budget presented to parliament in April included significant cuts in health, education, social protection, and water and sanitation. In 2022/23, the combined spending on these categories came to only around 6 percent of Kenya’s GDP, or 23 percent of government expenditures. This amount is far below international benchmarks and reflects a continued decrease in social spending in Kenya since 2019.

For health care, the World Health Organization recommends spending a minimum of 5 percent of GDP, and Kenya has agreed to at least 15 precent of government expenditures. Global benchmarks on education recommend spending at least 4 to 6 percent of GDP or 15 to 20 percent of national budgets to meet human rights obligations.

Anger at the bill provoked unprecedented protests across the country and online, which quickly evolved to express broader outrage at the high cost of living, corruption, poor governance, wasteful government spending, and the abysmal state of public services. Protesters said they were particularly incensed that the government would tax sanitary pads, cooking oil, and other basic goods rather than address rampant tax evasion and corruption. 

The government responded by brutally cracking down on protesters, killing at least 39 people, according to the Police Reforms Working Group – Kenya. Authorities have continued to target protesters and perceived protest organizers with arbitrary arrests and detentions and, in at least 32 cases, abductions and enforced disappearances. Victims of abductionsreport being tortured by police or suspected state agents, and others have been found dead. 

President Ruto sent the bill back to parliament, saying he would instead seek $1.4 billion in expenditure cuts and $1.3 billion in new borrowing. This could be a positive step against regressive tax measures, but protesters have described this as largely inadequate to address the root causes of the country’s problems or to heed public demands for reforms. 

In addition, it may create fresh risks to rights, Human Rights Watch said. The president has said he would achieve the cuts by, for example, decreasing travel expenses and eliminating budget lines for the president and deputy president’s spouses, but this is unlikely to be sufficient. To reach $1.4 billion in cuts, the government could further decrease—or, at a minimum, decline to increase—chronically low social spending. A revised budget was published on July 15, but it has yet to be analyzed. At the same time, without the Finance Bill, the IMF’s Executive Board may not approve the release of additional funds.

The IMF should revisit its targets to ensure that it is not impeding the Kenyan government from meeting its human rights obligations and ensure that any policies enacted to achieve program targets do not exacerbate poverty and inequality or undermine rights. To build trust, the IMF and Kenyan government should work together to conduct and publish human rights impact assessments of both the budget and finance bills and amend them to best fulfill their rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said. 

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights noted in its 2016 periodic review of Kenya that “there is a large amount of illicit financial flows and tax avoidance” and “cases of corruption, particularly those involving high-level officials, are not thoroughly investigated.” 

Further, Tax Justice Network, a nongovernmental group, ranks Kenya as highly complicit in helping multinational corporations underpay corporate income tax and says that Kenya loses $190 million annually in global tax abuse, largely committed by multinational corporations. This figure is equivalent to 9.5 percent of Kenya’s budget for health and 4 percent of education. Corporations had a tax compliance rate of 70 percent in 2023, according to data from the Kenya Revenue Authority. 

Human rights law also obligates other states and public institutions to set a global environment and provide support to Kenya to best fulfill everyone’s economic, social, and cultural rights in the country. This applies, for instance, to global tax rules and the treatment of debt.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for a “human rights economy.” This concept is rooted in the shared vision of reforming domestic economies and the international financial architecture to enable everyone to realize their economic, social, and cultural rights, as well as the rights to development and to a healthy and sustainable environment.

“Kenyans are expressing the anger of billions of people across the world who are being squeezed dry by an economic system that leaves even well-intentioned governments with little margin to meet their human rights obligations,” Saadoun said. “Only by aligning economic policies with human rights on every level, domestic and international, can we address the root of the problem.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).