The note presents an overview on gender strategies for Sub-Saharan Africa, and, illustrates the direct relevance of specific, regional gender characteristics, to its socioeconomic development. Strategic objectives point at increasing women's effective access to financial services, particularly in agriculture, redirecting agricultural research, and extension to meet the needs of women farmers
raise women's participation in education, and their access to health, nutrition, and family planning services
expand access to rural water supply, and fuel-wood, transport, and labor-saving technology for agro-processing, and domestic tasks
and, support systematic participation of women at macro, sectoral, and micro levels, to identify gender-differentiated impacts of policies, and programs, and, to define ways to overcome gender barriers in the access to economic resources, and human development.