West Africa

Pathways West Africa Hub is led by the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA) at the University of Ghana. Working with regional partners its research focuses on issues in Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

The hub’s three Anglophone West African focus countries share significant cultural commonalities, yet have markedly different contemporary histories. The research takes as its starting point the dissonance between narratives of women’s empowerment that drive international development policy and women’s lived experience in this region.

Featured Research Projects

  • Research Project

    Tracking Changes in Conceptions of Empowerment in Nigeria

    This project examined the discourses of empowerment used by specific actors, particularly in relation to understandings of women’s disempowerment, and explored the effects of these discourses on efforts to bring about gender equality. …

  • Research Project

    Discourses on Women's Empowerment in Sierra Leone

    Pre-war discourses of empowerment which were mainly around issues of development have now changed, in this post-war era, to include issues of gender equality, participation and voice, among others. This project has tracked these changes in relation to women’s conceptions of empowerment during this period. …

  • Research Project

    Dialogue with Women District Assembly Members

    The assembly is a sort of District Council in Ghana. Its members are 70 per cent elected and 30 per cent - of which half must be women - appointed. This research project asked: How did the women get into office? How was getting into office a catalyst for participation? What results did they gain in office for themselves and their communities? …

  • Research Project

    Changing Representations of Women in Popular Culture

    This project sought to explore and understand the ways in which women are represented in different music genres, and by different artistes over the period 1970 to date. The researchers examined the main themes about women in the song lyrics, both explicit and implicit, focusing on narratives of women's bodies and their roles as workers, providers and caregivers. …

Address

The West Africa Hub is based at:

The Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy, University of Ghana

Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA)
University of Ghana
PO Box LG 73
Legon, Accra
Ghana

Members

Akofa Ampofo Adomako
Nana Akua Anyidoho
Awo Mana Asiedu
Bibi Bakare Yusuf (independent publisher)
Akosua Darkwah
Takyiwaa Manuh (ECA)

Nigeria:

Charmaine Pereira (IWSN)

Sierra Leone:

Hussaina Abdullah (Independent Consultant)
Aisha Fofana Ibrahim (University of Sierra Leone)
Jamesina King (University of Sierra Leone)

Partners

University of Sierra Leone