Women and Development in North Africa Gender inequality is a huge problem for women and girls and development has started to take hold to overcome this injustice towards the female population in North Africa and the Middle East. Gender inequality has become a major and visible issue for the economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). I have been researching how women in North Africa are deprived of many opportunities and are poorly educated. The female population has suffered immensely in Africa. Currently, African women, like many women in third world countries, have not been included as equal and effective stakeholders in the processes that shape their lives. African women continue to have less access to education than men; they continue to have fewer job and advancement opportunities; their role and contribution to national and continental development processes are neither recognized nor rewarded; and although women bear the brunt of conflicts, women are generally not included in peace negotiations or other initiatives in this regard. The mortality of women and girls represents the most systematic discrimination against women. Women and girls are at risk of being poorer than their male counterparts. Studies have found that girls are fed less than their brothers and illnesses are also less likely to be cured. Cultural factors play an important role in humanity and female development. Many girls are forced to marry young and have more children than they want. They are unable to stand up to their husbands without suffering the consequences of being beaten. This vicious cycle means that women are disadvantaged and poverty is perpetuated. Despite positive initiatives, there was inadequate support and no... half of the document... and extended family. Works Cited Coclough, Christopher. Achieving education for all in Africa: Costs, effort and gender. Vermont: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003. King, Elizabeth M., Hill, M. Anne. Girls' education in developing countries: Barriers, benefits and policies. Washington, DC: World Bank Book, 1993. Knapp, Barbara, Sperling, Gene B. What Works in Girls' Education: Evidence and Policy from the Developing World. New York: Foreign Relations, 2004. Manuh, Takyiwaa, “Women in Africa's Development: Overcoming Obstacles, Pushing for Progress.” Issue 11, April 1998. http://un.org/ecosocdev/Razavi, Shahrashoub and Miller, Carol. From WID to GAD: Conceptual Shifts in the Women and Development Discourses, Geneva: United Nations Research Institute on Social Development, Occasional Paper 1, 1995.www.cfr.org