Fiscal Justice for Women and Girls in Africa 

    Zambia is a critical problem with limited domestic revenue sources, leading to escalating debt. To address this issue, Domestic Resource Mobilisation (DRM) has become a top priority for the Zambian government to fund its development efforts. However, the government’s expenditure has outpaced its resource mobilisation, resulting in an increasing fiscal deficit, which reached 8.9 percent of GDP by 2022.

    To help contribute to more transparent and accountable revenue generation and spending policies by transforming fiscal systems to better respond to the needs of citizens, especially for women and girls in Africa, CUTS has partnered with African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) and Oxfam Novib.

    To this effect, CUTS is implementing a three-year project that aims to amplify the voice of southern women’s rights organisations in macro-level economic decision-making in Africa, advocating for a transformative, just, accountable, and gender-responsive economic architecture. Further, the project seeks to build a movement of African feminist economists and activists to influence macroeconomic policies and processes.

    The project’s overall objective is to contribute to more transparent and accountable revenue generation and spending policies by transforming fiscal systems to better meet the needs of citizens, particularly women and girls in Africa.

    The specific objective is to strengthen the capacity of CSOs, women’s rights organisations (WROs), and citizens in Uganda and Zambia to hold decision-makers accountable for the formulation and implementation of fiscal policies that impact women and girls on a national and regional level.

    Through this project, the partner organisations aim to create an environment where the voices of African women are heard and considered in economic decision-making processes, leading to more inclusive and gender-responsive fiscal policies that benefit women and girls. By strengthening the capacity of CSOs, WROs, and citizens to hold decision-makers accountable, the project seeks to drive positive changes in fiscal systems and foster equitable economic growth and development in Africa.