The Maputo Protocol: International agreements and women’s rights as an enabler of development

International agreements on human rights are development enablers. One of such vehicles is the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (also known as the Maputo Protocol), a pan-African protocol which aims to further the rights of women and girls- the majority of the population of the continent. The Maputo Protocol was adopted at the 2nd Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) in 2003. The Maputo Protocol provides venues for the recognition and the realisation of women’s and girls’ human rights, with an intersectional lens that is cognizant of the needs and particularities of the continent. The achievement of any development agenda such as Agenda 2063 and the SDG’s depends on the recognition of the human rights for all. Thus, the affirmation of women’s and girls’ human rights by the Maputo Protocol becomes a critical instrument for enabling gender equality, central to the goals of Agenda 2063 and the SDGs. Yet, despite its relevance for enabling the progression of women’s rights, the translation of this protocol into local legislations remains incomplete. One important bottleneck for enabling the rights of women and girls remain the delays in translating such protocols into national legislation. We argue that the implementation of legal mandates such as the Maputo Protocol can provide pathways for the recognition of human rights in the continent, and that this legal recognition can facilitate the achievement of development goals. Given this, is central to take stock of the degree of implementation of the Maputo Protocol into national laws. Accounting for the degree of implementation of the Maputo protocol can provide a “contextual” assessment of the legal conditions in which the rights of women and girls are to be realised, and can inform development efforts and interventions for the rights of women and children in the continent.This paper is part of the work of UCT’s Sustainable Development Goals and African Agenda 2063 fellows, part of UCT’s Sustainable Development Goals Initiative, following the work from the International Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa, hosted at UCT in 2021

The Impact of the Green Transition on Jobs in South Africa

One of the key issues in policy discussions over addressing climate concerns the ways in which countries need to and can balance the combating of climate change with job creation and economic development. South Africa’s transition to a low-carbon economy is essential and urgent, as one of the largest carbon emitters among low and middle-income countries and a country with a heavy reliance on coal-based energy production. From the outset, an essential principle guiding this transition has been to ensure that it is just and equitable for all South Africans. However, it has been hard to give effect to this in practice; one important example being that achieving this requires acknowledging and addressing the potential regional disparities in the effects of the shift to a green economy. In this paper we seek to contribute towards an evidence base to ground such a discussion. We employ a comprehensive framework that combines bottom-up and top-down approaches to estimating ‘green jobs’ in order to analyse how the transition may affect workers in different geographic areas. To capture the spatial dimension of the transition, we draw on Spatial Tax Panel data using provinces and municipalities as our units of analysis. Given sample size limitations in the accompanying survey data, the specific findings should be treated as illustrative examples of how the framework can be operationalised. Even so, they do highlight the imperative to consider the likelihood of large geographic variation in the impacts of the green transition.The paper is part of a joint SALDRU-ACEIR project

Public employment and livelihood trajectories in South Africa's constrained labour market

This year more than one million people will participate in Public Employment programmes (PEPs) in South Africa. These programmes involve the provision of work that is state funded but outside the usual structure of the public service. In a context where unemployment is the main determinant of poverty, Public Employment offers a form of social assistance to protect people from social and economic vulnerability. But when South Africa’s social protection landscape changed with the advent of the Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD) to support the working aged, unemployed population, the policy conversation shifted alongside it with a renewed emphasis on the ways work matters beyond income. This is particularly in relation to the way that participation in meaningful work could build skills, capabilities, and networks that can lead to improved economic participation and livelihoods. From this perspective Public Employment is articulated as multi-purpose policy tool, where well-designed and well-implemented programmes can ideally act as a safety net and a springboard into more productive and resilient livelihoods.I am deeply grateful to Dr Kate Philip, whose generous mentorship and incisive ideas shaped this paper's development. The implementing agencies of the Presidential Employment Stimulus offered invaluable insights from the frontlines of practice, enriching this research with their practical wisdom. I owe special thanks to the Social Employment Fund for multiple workshops, site visits, and opportunities to talk to wonderful participants, which grounded this paper’s recommendations. Thank you also to Dr Joshua Budlender for thoughtful engagement with an earlier draft that helped sharpen both the argument and its expression. And finally, thank you to the DG Murray Trust for supporting this research more broadly

Renewable energy skills mapping and labour market analysis in the Western Cape

This research examines key aspects of the renewable energy skills landscape, with a focus on priority sectors identified as having high potential for inclusive renewable energy (RE) value chain localisation, and development, in the Western Cape. The analysis includes occupation and skill requirements, national and provincial employment trends, insights from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, and perspectives from industry. By integrating diverse sources of information, the study offers a comprehensive and nuanced analysis of the skills landscape underpinning these sectors. High levels of technical skills are needed within the sectors, with considerable overlap across sectors. Although the TVET colleges differ in their approaches to renewable energy training, all have demonstrated a commitment to providing this training. Most businesses identified deficiencies in soft skills as critical workforce challenges, as well as limited access to financing and unpredictable demand as core barriers to growth. Business insights highlight the importance of a versatile and agile workforce capable of responding effectively to changes in market demand. Embedding renewable energy content into existing TVET qualifications may assist in the development of such a workforce by producing graduates with the requisite agility and foundational expertise to meet changing demand dynamics.Ethics approval: This study was approved by the Faculty of Commerce Research Ethics Committee [COM/01279/2024] on 21 October 2024.This research was commissioned by the National Business Initiative, funded by Danish Industry

Taking stock of the complexities between economic growth, poverty, and inequality in Africa

Whether economic growth is good or bad for the reduction of poverty and inequality and sustainable development outcomes in general, depends on the specific economic and societal contexts within which economic growth is taking place and the nature of that economic growth. Yet, discussions about the anticipated effects of economic growth on poverty and inequality are often brought to the public sphere without sufficient context. The stubbornly high levels of poverty and inequality in Africa, and our current lacklustre performance in achieving the goals of both the SDG’s and the AA2063 despite three decades of strong growth performance in many African countries, illustrates the urgency of moving into more comprehensive understandings of the relation between economic growth and poverty and inequality. If we aim to propose better action plans of action to achieve the goals of the SDGs and the Africa Agenda 2063, we need to make explicit the different factors that modulate the relation between economic growth, poverty and inequality on the continent. In this document, we illustrate some of the complexities associated with the relationship between economic growth, poverty, and inequality in Africa. We show that these relations are context-specific, and we highlight some of the contextual factors that condition these impacts. There are few stylised facts, and this article makes the case for the importance of understanding these complexities in each country context in order to design more effective policies and interventions to reduce poverty and inequality in that country and then across the continent.This document is part of the work of UCT’s Sustainable Development Goals and African Agenda 2063 fellows, part of UCT’s Sustainable Development Goals Initiative, following the work from the International Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa, hosted at UCT in 2021

Sustainable Development as an African Agenda

One of the most common misconceptions about Africa is that Africa is only a recipient of ideas and aid. This view of Africa is not only narrow-minded and dismissive, but it also overlooks the fact that Africa has been a rich source of ideas about how societies should be. These ideas stem from politics, history, and economics and include notions of development embedded in the ethos of African societies. This paper adds to mainstream accounts of Africa’s role in global development, looking at the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and Africa Agenda 2063 and illustrating the role of African institutions and individuals in informing both regional and global development agendas. We describe some of the contributions of African institutions and leaders to global development debates. We do this by presenting the case of Agenda 2063 to illustrate the continental initiatives that preceded and most likely informed discussions that led to the SDG’s agenda, challenging the misconception of Africa as merely a recipient of ideas about global development. We describe how Africa exerted its agency by presenting its Africa Agenda 2063 to the continent and the world. Africa Agenda 2063 tabled a continental vision of Africa and its development, which was part of the debates about the Post 2015 Development Agenda taking place at the time. We detail the timeliness of Africa’s Agenda 2063 in contemporary discussions on the SDGs and future debates about development agendas in 2030. AU's Agenda 2063 illustrates Africa's agency in proposing development visions. It constitutes a compass for the continent and perhaps a more realistic vision for the world’s development in the debates ahead for the post-2030 development agenda.This paper is part of the work of UCT’s Sustainable Development Goals and African Agenda 2063 fellows, part of UCT’s Sustainable Development Goals Initiative, following the work from the International Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa, hosted at UCT in 2021

A generation on hold? Profiling the persistent crisis of youth not in employment, education or training (NEET) in South Africa

South Africa’s persistently high NEET rate, with nearly one in three youth aged 15–24 not in employment, education, or training, signals a generation on hold. This study provides an update on the scale, profile, and predictors of being NEET among youth, using nationally representative data from the 2015 and 2025 Quarterly Force Surveys and 2014 and 2024 General Household Surveys. The NEET rate has hovered above 30% for a decade and reached 34.2% in 2025, affecting over 3.3 million young people. The analysis reveals stark disparities by gender, race, age, education, location, and household income, with young women, Black African youth, those aged 20–24, those with matric or less and residing in low-income households at greatest risk. While most NEET youth are actively seeking work, many remain trapped in long-term unemployment, especially new labour market entrants, a situation that has become more entrenched over the past decade. Multivariate analysis confirms key predictors of NEET status, including age, gender, education, work experience, location, and marital status. The findings thus continue to underscore the complex interplay of multiple structural and individual-level factors that keep large numbers of young people socio-economically excluded. Despite decades of policy attention to the challenge, South Africa remains unable to reliably transition young people into sustainable income earning opportunities – and thus, out of poverty. The results confirm the urgent need to develop and implement an integrated, multi-sectoral approach that rigorously strengthens supply-side readiness, scales supportive and effective intermediation accessible to all young people and enhances demand-side incentives and responsibility. That approach should be able to provide support for the (often long-term) unemployed, recognising the need to remediate for scarring effects, and to bridge the school-to-work transitions through well-targeted, multi-dimensional interventions, tailored to diverse youth experiences. Without accelerated action to support youth onto pathways to sustainable livelihoods, South Africa risks leaving an entire generation behind

Do North–South Free Trade Agreements Deliver Export Gains? Evidence from Morocco

This paper examines whether the United States–Morocco Free Trade Agreement (USMFTA), implemented in 2006, contributed to an increase in Morocco’s exports between 2004 and 2023. Using a Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML) estimation of an augmented gravity model that controls for economic size, distance, institutional quality, and overlapping FTAs, it finds that the USMFTA had a negative effect on Morocco’s total goods exports. Sector-level results show similar effects on agri-food and automotive exports. In contrast, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the EU–Morocco agreement were associated with stronger export performance. The results show that structural, institutional, and implementation asymmetries can make it challenging for smaller economies to benefit from bilateral North–South trade agreements. The results also offer lessons for African countries seeking to develop their trade strategies amid the expected expiration of AGOA and growing fragmentation in the global trading system.JEL Classification : F13, F15, Q17, L62The authors thank participants for UNECA seminars from helpful comments and discussions. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of their institutions of affiliation

Occupational Polarization in South Africa: Evidence from the Post-Apartheid Labour Market Series

A detailed description of occupational change in South Africa has been missing from the discussion of polarization of labour markets. We show how the occupations data in the Post-Apartheid Labour Market Series (PALMS) can be labelled with the South African Standard Classification of Occupations (SASCO) and cleaned. In our analysis, we describe the apparent trends in the proportional distribution of employment by occupation, and occupational earnings, investigating whether these trends indicate polarization in the South African labour market over the period 2000–2017. We find some evidence for polarization of aggregate earnings by occupation, reflected in a slight shrinkage in the proportion of the middle “third” of the distribution. Polarization has been driven primarily by mean wage changes by occupation rather than employment changes, except for corporate managers, where there has been a significant increase in employment

Measuring Multidimensional Poverty in Kenya Across Time and Space

This study aims to assess Kenya’s progress in the reduction of poverty in the context of achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). We start with a standard set of indicators from the Alkire-Foster (AF) multidimensional framework which encompasses multiple facets of the SDGs but begin by interrogating their appropriateness. We start by assessing the reliability of the indicators using the item response theory and the reliability of the overall model using McDonald’s Omega statistic. We find that the overall model is not reliable. In particular, we find that the child mortality indicator is not reliable thus we drop it from the analysis. We introduce indicators measuring child schooling gaps, household overcrowding, and financial inclusion which make the poverty measurement model reliable. We assess the validity of the AF framework using the confirmatory factor analysis. We find that the most valid model is one with equal non-normalized weighting of the indicators which excludes the child mortality indicator. This is in contrast to the standard AF framework which uses equal weights per domain and equal weights for the dimensions within each domain. We thus estimate the multidimensional model AF framework with additional indicators, with equal weights and without the child mortality indicator. We use the finite mixture model, latent class analysis and negative binomial frameworks to estimate an optimal poverty threshold and find the negative binomial framework fits the data best. The optimal threshold classifies an individual as poor if they are deprived in 7 or more of the 12 indicators. This contrasts with the standard AF framework in which an individual is considered poor if they are deprived of a third or more of the weighted indicators. Using our index, we then go on to profile multidimensional poverty over the period 2014 to 2022. The results show that Kenya has experienced remarkable improvements in the poverty situation as shown by significant reductions in the poverty headcount and multidimensional poverty index (MPI) at the national, sub-group and spatial levels between 2014 and 2022. A decomposition of the MPI shows that the largest contributor to multidimensional poverty is the living standards dimension while the education dimension makes the least contribution. The provision of cheaper clean cooking fuel, electricity and low-cost housing is imperative since the lack of access to these indicators is the largest contributor to the MPI