Six new projects that promote women's empowerment in West Africa

Selected following an open call for proposals, the projects fall under two themes:

technologies and innovations that reduce and redistribute unpaid domestic care work
childcare services for different categories of women and opportunities for scaling

Over the next 36 months, these projects will help produce reliable and locally relevant evidence on these themes.

Here is an overview of the six projects:

On improved cookstoves: the double benefit of energy efficiency and paid labour opportunities
Impacts of the introduction of the Guev cooker on the economic empowerment of women in Benin and scaling opportunities
Solar energy and biotechnologies for women entrepreneurs in the mangroves of Ramsar Site 1017 in Benin
Toward universal access to childcare services in Senegal
Impact of social and educational early childhood care programs on women's empowerment in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire
Emergence of a female middle class and demand for childcare services in West Africa

This cohort of projects is intended to be a continuation of the Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) initiative in West Africa. Using a transformative and intersectional approach to action research, it focuses on the status of women as determined by the social norms and power dynamics that shape their choices and opportunities.

These projects in West Africa add to the GrOW – East Africa initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and IDRC, which has a broader thematic scope.