The debt crisis in Southern Africa is a gender justice crisis

As of 2025, according to the IMF, over half of lower income countries are in or at high risk of debt default. Countries in Southern Africa, such as Zambia or Malawi, are heavily affected. The debt trap that many Global South countries end up in is a direct colonial legacy, set into motion by the global economic structures put into place during colonialism and after independence and the Global North’s dominance over the financial structures that govern debt.

For those countries, being trapped in a debt crisis significantly undermines progress on gender equality, as governments are forced to implement budget cuts that prioritise repaying creditors over funding social protection, key public services and gender‑transformative policies. 32 African countries now spend more on external debt than on healthcare and 25 spend more on debt than on education.

Women and girls are more acutely affected by external debt for many reasons, from their increased likelihood of reliance on public services such as childcare and gender-based violence services to the recorded impact of high debt servicing and austerity on women’s jobs, which are more likely to be in public services. Malala Fund has calculated that Global South countries’ external debt is one of the main blockers to girls’ access to education worldwide.

The gendered impact of these austerity-related budget cuts is so acute that it has been strongly argued that austerity itself constitutes a form of gender-based violence. 

ACTSA signed a briefing for Parliamentarians about the importance of debt justice to women and girls’ rights globally. Along with other UK organisations, such as Debt Justice, CAFOD and Christian Aid, we echo the call on the Government to pass the Debt Relief Bill and explain how it would improve the situation.

You can read the briefing here.