Global Journal of Human Social Science, E: Economics, Volume 22 Issue 7

Assessment of the Key Indicators and Dimensions of Women Empowerment in Rural Zambia Anthony Abaidoo Abstract- Women empowerment remains an important subject of concern to governments and international organizations across the globe. It has been observed that a higher percentage of women within Africa are disempowered. This study was therefore conducted to assess the key indicators and dimensions of women empowerment in rural Zambia. The data used in the study was gathered from the 2018 Zambian Demographic and Health Survey. Following Alkire-Foster multidimensional poverty methodology, women empowerment was measured by using 11 indicators which were grouped into five dimension; agency, income, leadership, resources and workload/time. Data analysis was done by using descriptive statistics and probit and logit models. The findings revealed that 76.23% of rural women take joint decision on their health with their spouse; and 62.81% take join decision with their spouse on large household purchases. Apart from women in Eastern rural Zambia, majority of the women didn’t justify violence in any form. Additionally, 53.0% of rural women do not own a house and 45.42% can’t read at all while 97.34% rely on charcoal and wood and their cooking fuel. Results from the probit and logit models indicated that whiles women’s marital status and those residing in rural Copperbelt, Southern and Western of regions of Zambia incases the probability of a woman being empowered, women’s age and level of education reduced the probability of women being empowered. This study therefore recommends that non-formal education should be organized for the rural women and effort should be made to ensure that the young ladies in rural Zambia are formerly educated. Again, intensive sensitization programs should be conducted for the rural women to educate them on their rights and significance of women empowerment. I. I ntroduction omen empowerment is still a vital concern in global discussions and remains deeply rooted in every society. This is because women empowerment play a critical role in ending extreme poverty (World Bank, 2014) and women’s contribution could increase global GDP by US$28 trillion by 2025 (Abney & Laya, 2018). Additionally, women devote substantial percentage of their budget to household benefits such as nutrition, health and education than men (Abney & Laya, 2018; Asaolu et al., 2018; The Hunger Project, 2014) and the entire society benefits when women are employed (International Monetary Fund, 2018). Notwithstanding the significant contributions of women towards individuals, families and global economies, they lack behind on so many indicators as compared to men. For example, the 2018 global labour force participation rate for women was 48.5 percent, which is 26.5 percent less than men (International Labour Organization, 2018); and they earn only 77 percent of what men earn even though they work longer hours than men when paid and unpaid work is taken into account (UN Women, 2018). The United Nations through several initiatives such as Commission on Status of Women – 1946, Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – 1995, Millennium Declaration Goal 3-2000 and UN Women – 2010 have helped to provide the appropriate framework for women empowerment (UN, 2019) but the problem still lingers especially in rural part of Sub-Saharan Africa (Asaolu et al., 2018). Plethora of studies within this region have confirmed that sexual abuse and violence against women still persist (Asaolu et al, 2018; Peterman et al., 2015; Dako-Gyeke, 2013; Waltermaurer, 2012). In Zambia, women face economic, emotional and physical abuse challenges. Reported cases of sexual, emotional and physical abuse increased from 31.3% in 2014 to 32.3% in 2018 and the number of girls married at the age of 15 years was 9.6% in 214(Zambia Statistic Agency, 2019). Studies have found that women empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa could be accelerated if women are given the equal financial opportunities and the necessary support to exercise control over important assets such house, income and land (Asaolu et al, 2018; World Bank, 2017). At the 2017 Boosting Women’s Economic Empowerment, it was emphasized that Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, can only be achieved by 2030 if government and stakeholders demonstrate high levels of commitment (UN, 2017). This study is therefore conducted to assess the critical indicators and dimensions for women empowerment in rural Zambia. II. M ethodology a) Source of Data The data used in this study was extracted from the 2018 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) which accessible via https://dhsprogram.com/ data/dataset/Zambia_Standard-DHS_2018.cfm?flag=1. DHS is conducted primarily to provide guidance for policy decision making and its implementation with emphasis on health indicators such as awareness and use of family planning; breast feeding practices; nutritional status of children; and early childhood and maternal mortality. The 2018 ZDHS is the sixth round and the data was collected from July 18, 2018 to W © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue VII Version I 1 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 E Author: e-mail: a.abaidook@gmail.com