Impact of the World Bank and IMF Policies on Rural Women's Human Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa

Over the past decades, national governments across sub-Saharan Africa have implemented World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies. The liberalisation of the market and reduced expenditure on public services under these policies may have effects on rural women who, as a result, might have to pay more for agricultural inputs, have access to fewer public services, and may lose the opportunity to participate in the formal labour force. This article aims to study the impact of World Bank and IMF policies on rural women’s human rights and first reviews the literature on the World Bank and IMF policies and their gendered impacts, then focuses on the impact of these policies on rural women’s human rights in sub-Saharan Africa in the areas of education, labour force and food security.