The fifth global goal is to reach gender equality worldwide once the SDGs are due in 2030. While reaching this goal includes overcoming numerous challenges, the global community is on a good path to improve gender equality and empower women around the world.
Video Transcript
The fifth Sustainable Development Goal put forth by the UN is to achieve gender equality and empower girls. Gender equality is a fundamental human right, every person regardless of their identity deserves equal treatment, but gender equality is also an important part of any sustainable, peaceful world. Doing as much as we can to reach gender equality and empower girls will not only be good for women worldwide, it will also aid in reaching sustainability goals by 2030.
Such a broad goal will require efforts on multiple fronts. Generally, we want to end discrimination based on sex, looking to set up and maintain legal frameworks that promote gender equality and prevent discrimination, but this is only surface level.
A huge part of the fight for gender equality will be to eliminate all forms of violence against women, to include sexual and psychological violence inflicted by either strangers or romantic partners, human trafficking, and all other forms of exploitation. With a crackdown on harmful practices like child marriage and genital mutilation, young girls worldwide will hopefully soon be able to grow up unburdened by these unfortunate circumstances.
Increasing the accessibility of healthcare for women, particularly for sexual and reproductive care, will be a vital component of gender equality. All women should have access to contraception and be educated on their own reproductive rights.
Another important tenet of ensuring gender equality is recognising the value that is added by the unpaid domestic care that is typically undertaken by women, and putting in place adequate social protection systems and encouraging the sharing of household responsibilities.
All of these previous targets must be met or worked towards if we can hope for women to fully be able to participate on equal footing in economic, political, and other public domains.
Currently efforts are focused on ensuring that women have the same economic rights as men, meaning having equal access to and control of property, natural resources, inheritance, and financial services. New technology, like cellphones and the internet, should not be underestimated as tools for liberation; with access to technology, women will be more empowered to reach out for resources and improve their condition.
As for progress towards SDG 5, there is marked reduction in the prevalence of genital mutilation and child marriage, which is undeniably a good thing.
However, for many of the other targets, progress lags behind where it should be. Since the inception of the SDGs, the rate of women reporting to have experienced violence at the hands of present or past partners has hovered around 20%. Around 43% of women in the 51 countries surveyed still do not have full control over their sexual relations, the use of contraceptives and access to other health services. And women still perform three times as many hours of unpaid work as men do, meaning they still have less time for paid work and self-development, finding it harder to break out of their stereotypical positions.
Though the percentage of women in positions of leadership has improved, 13% of seats in national parliaments were held by women in 2000 as compared to 24% in 2018, they are still seriously underrepresented. Likewise, the percentage of women in managerial positions was around 27% in 2018, even though women make up 39% of the workforce.
Based on data from 53 countries, some governments continue to have legal gaps on women’s issues. More than a quarter have legal gaps concerning violence against women, and 29% have gaps in the employment and economic benefits legally available to women.
Despite these numbers, however, the quest for gender equality still has a hope to be realised by 2030. It is paramount for everyone to remember that all the SGDs are not reached solely through wide scale governmental and business efforts, but that individuals also have a part to play. Concerning SDG 5 in particular, you can make a conscious effort to fight stereotypes and stand up for women’s rights in whatever way you can. SDG 5 is well within your grasp.