Ubuntu, Gender Equality and Sustainable Development in Africa: An African Feminist Perspective

Ubuntu is the African philosophy of well-being (“I am a person through other persons”). It exudes the exercising of compassion, reciprocity, dignity, humanity and mutuality, with the goal of building and maintaining communities with justice and mutual caring. Sustainable development is a development that ensures human well-being, ecological integrity, gender equality and social justice, now and in the future. Ubuntu cannot become a lived reality if others are excluded from living a holistic life. Hence, the existence of gender inequality in any society defies the principles enshrined in the Ubuntu philosophy. Through literature review, as well as drawing insights from the African feminist theory, our chapter foregrounds the strengths of Ubuntu, while exploring how it could be sharpened to address contemporary global challenges. The overarching question guiding the discussion in this chapter is: “how can the Ubuntu ethos contribute towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5?” The main target for SDG 5 is to “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” Reflecting on the inherent gender inequalities in Africa, our chapter contends that the main goal of SDG 5 will remain a pipedream if half of the African population (women and girls), is excluded from the development processes. We conclude the chapter by proffering that attaining sustainable development should entail redressing gender inequality and discrimination at household, local, national, regional and global levels. This would epitomize the crux of the Ubuntu maxim, “I am because we are and, since we are, therefore I am.”