Messages clIt iss
– Burkina Faso is characterized by a low level of female education, low empowerment of women associated with a high infant mortality rate;
– The education of mothers improves their economic empowerment especially in terms of earnings, but not in terms of the use of these earnings;
– Reducing infant mortality involves promoting the economic empowerment of mothers by increasing their earning capacity and their decision-making power over these earnings, which in turn depend on their education.
– Policies aimed at empowering women need to take into account the socio-cultural constraints.
Context and importance of the problem
The level of education in Burkina Faso, particularly that of women, is still low, owing to the efforts undertaken by the political authorities and international organizations in accordance
to axis 4 of the SDGs. In addition, the finding reveals difficulties for
women to be economically and socially independent. Indeed, in Burkina Faso, the female unemployment rate was 6% on average over the last five-year period, which is quite high and higher than the rate
of average global unemployment (World Bank, 2021). Also according to the AfDB (2021), 65.4% of women in Burkina Faso work in the informal sector. At the same time, Burkina Faso has relatively high child mortality rates; it is 56.68 per 1000 for infant mortality, 26.98 per 1000 for
neonatal mortality and 93.96 per 1000 for infant and child mortality over the period 2015-2019. These rates remain higher than the averages for Sub-Saharan Africa. It therefore emerges that Burkina Faso is characterized by a low level of female education, low female empowerment and an infant mortality rate.
pupil. The study aimed to analyze the impact of mothers’ education on mortality through their economic empowerment.
Results and implications
The analysis reveals that in Burkina Faso, improving women’s human capital is conducive to their economic empowerment. Indeed, access to education, that is to say school instruction and literacy for women, improves their probability of gains. However, this does not seem to have an impact on their decision-making power over household income. It also appears that decision-making power over household income reduces infant mortality in Burkina Faso, especially in rural areas.
The study therefore recommends continuity in the policies
for the education of girls and women with a view to improving their economic empowerment by enabling them to have access to income-generating activities. But also, the adoption of policies taking into account socio-cultural constraints, especially in rural areas, with a view to improving their decision-making power on the use of their income in order to reduce infant mortality in Burkina Faso.
Par Barro Lamissa, TiindrI will bego Havecha, Nana Issa et Kand landry
The article AERC COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT – POLICY BRIEF: My mother’s education or my death appeared first on Journal L’Economiste du Faso.
