Gender Analysis in Economics @ Peradeniya (GAP)


is an initiative of the Postgraduate Institute in Humanities and Social Sciences (PGIHS) at the University of Peradeniya to promote Postgraduate Teaching and Research in Gender Analysis in Economics.



The Problem: Gender inequality is unfair, and it hurts everyone

“Gender inequality is not only a pressing moral and social issue but also a critical economic challenge. If women do not achieve their full economic potential, the global economy will suffer. This loss to the global economy could be as much as USD 12 trillion by 2025 - the size of the US and Chinese economies combined”

Gender inequalities manifest themselves in each and every dimension of sustainable development. When households cannot access sufficient food, women are often the first to go hungry. While girls are doing increasingly better in school and university than boys, this has not translated into gender equality in the labour market. The gender pay gap stands at 23 per cent globally and, without decisive action, it will take another 68 years to achieve equal pay. … Despite their increasing presence in public life, women continue to do 2.6 times the unpaid care and domestic work that men do. Women and girls are also the main water and solid fuel collectors in households without access to an improved water source and clean energy in their homes, with adverse implications for their health and safety”

“This is why women’s rights advocates fought hard to achieve both a stand-alone goal on gender equality as well as integrating gender equality across other [SDG] goals and targets, drawing attention to the gender dimensions of poverty, hunger, health, education, water and sanitation, employment, climate change, environmental degradation, urbanization, conflict and peace, and financing for development.”

We want to be part of the solution.

The solution, as we see it, is to understand the causes of gender inequality and find ways to bridge the gender gap. Gender Analysis in Economics at Peradeniya focuses on giving analysts and advocacy groups the knowledge, training and skills to be effective in designing and pushing for policies that help achieve SDG5 promote gender equality in all dimensions of sustainable development.