Ch 1: Mapping religion, gender and Sustainable Development in East and Southern Africa: An Introduction.- Part I: Gender-based Violence and Reproductive Rights.- Ch 2: Socio-cultural and Religious Beliefs, Women’s Sexual Reproductive Rights, and Sustainable Development in Eswatini.- Ch 3: Intersections of religion, gender-based violence and sustainable development in Zimbabwe.- Ch 4: Regai Dzive Shiri: Early Girl-Child Marriage, Human Trafficking, and Erasure to Development in Masvingo Province.- Part II: Gender Equality and Indigenous Beliefs.- Ch 5: Shona Indigenous Religion and the Flexibility and Complementarity of Gender Roles as a Platform for Cultivating Gender Equality in Contemporary Zimbabwe.- Ch 6: Shona Traditional Religion, Cultural Beliefs, Gender, and Sustainable Development in Zimbabwe.- Ch 7: Gender Equality, Religion, and Sustainable Development in Southern Africa.- Part III: Bible, Gender and Sustainable Development.- Ch 8: Interpreting Ephesians 5:22-24 in the context of masculinities in crisis: Implications for men and sustainable development in Zimbabwe.- Ch 9: The dilemma of female ministers’ participation in leadership in the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe? Reintegrating Paul’s views in 1 Corinthians 11:5 and 14:34 & 35.- Part IV: Leadership, Gender, Religion and Sustainable Development.- Ch 10: Gender-Based-Violence, and Sustainable Development Goals: Lesotho’s Leadership in Perspective.- Ch 11: Mainline and Evangelical Churches Engendering Politics of Malawi Sustainable Development Goals (MSDGs) in Democratic Malawi (1992-2023).- Ch 12: The Role of Religion in Equipping Malawian Women for Sustainable Development and Politics.- Ch 13: Towards Integrated Sustainable Development in Africa: A Case of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians 2019-2024.- Ch 14: Religion, Gender, and Sustainable Development through the Lens of the Contributions of the Religious Sisters of Charity of Ottawa in Eastern Zambia.- Ch 15: Conclusion.

"Religion is messy because it is double-ledged – It promotes and impedes development, sometimes concurrently. Add gender issues and the quest for sustainable development and the complexity of human life becomes manifest. Read this volume and see if you can disentangle the messy mesh of religion, gender and sustainable development in Southern and Eastern Africa." —Eunice Kamaara, Moi University This volume brings to the fore the intersections of religion, gender and sustainable development in 21st century Africa from an interdisciplinary perspective. The volume explores and presents a coherent, research supported argument for the role of religion in promoting gender justice and sustainable development. Contributing authors explicate how the nexus between religion and gender can be utilized as the backdrop for achieving sustainable development in Africa, focusing on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” Chapters in this volume focus on a variety of topics, including, how African Traditional Religions, Christianity (mainline, AICs, Pentecostalism), Islam, Rastafari, etc., are being used to promote SDG 5 in African countries. Tobias Marevesa is a New Testament Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, under the Robert Mugabe School of Heritage and Education at the Great Zimbabwe University where he teaches New Testament Studies and New Testament Greek. Nelly Mwale is a senior lecturer in the department of Religious Studies at the University of Zambia. Excellent Chireshe is an Associate Professor of Religion and Gender in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of Great Zimbabwe University. Ezra Chitando is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe. Sonene Nyawo is a Senior Lecturer and Head of Department in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Faculty of Humanities, at University of Eswatini.

Explores dimensions of development in Africa via the role of religion and gender Addresses how religion and gender contributes towards the goal of SDG 5, gender equality Explores both theoretical and empirical evidence from various African countries

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