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ADDRESSING INEQUALITIES
The Heart of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the Future We Want for All Global Thematic Consultation

GENDER INEQUALITY AND CULTURAL NORMS AND VALUES: ROOT CAUSES PREVENTING GIRLS FROM EXITING A LIFE OF POVERTY
Zainul Sajan Virgi, PhD – McGill University October 2012

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ABSTRACT Abject generational poverty is a systemic issue which strips communities, particularly girls of their power, visibility and their capacity to direct change in their lives. From the moment girls are born, two over-shadowing elements restrict their lives – gender inequality and cultural norms and values. This paper focuses on the lives of a group of girls living in a periurban community outside of Maputo, Mozambique. Using participatory methodologies, we hear directly from the girls the influencing role gender and culture has in preventing girls from accessing a higher quality of life. Noticeably absent in girls and poverty related dialogue are the voices of girls living with poverty, as well as the fundamental role of gender inequality and culture in relation to the opportunity and capacity of girls becoming visible, having voice and agency and ultimately leaving a life of poverty.

BIO Dr. Zainul Sajan Virgi’s research is based in Maputo, Mozambique where she is focusing on the lives of vulnerable pre-adolescent and adolescent girls and the possibilities for accessing a higher quality of life “as seen through their eyes”. Zainul is the first recipient of the Jackie Kirk Fellowship in Education. Zainul has worked as a community / international development expert in Canada, Mozambique,Tanzania, and India. She has utilized her research skills and translated the outcomes into recommendations which have been implemented successfully by governments, non-profit organizations, as well as donor agencies.

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“Children, particularly girls, continue to inherit family poverty. This cycle must be broken.” UNESCO, 2003 p. 5

INTRODUCTION Childhood poverty


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