Sustainable Development Goal 5
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Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5 or Global Goal 5) concerns
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
and is fifth of the 17
Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...
established by
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
in 2015. The 17 SDGs recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance
social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
,
economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
and
environmental sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
. A system thinking approach is the base for global sustainability. SDG 5 has nine targets and 14 indicators. Six of the targets are "outcome-oriented": ending all forms of
discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
against all women and girls everywhere; ending violence and exploitation of women and girls; eliminating harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage and
female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
; increasing value of unpaid care and promoting shared domestic responsibilities; ensuring full participation of women in leadership and decision-making; and ensuring access to universal reproductive rights and health. The three "means of achieving" targets are: fostering equal rights to economic resources, property ownership and financial services for women; promoting
empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...
of women through
technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
; and adopting, strengthening policies and enforcing legislation for gender equality. Through the pledge to "Leave No One Behind", countries have committed to fast-track progress for those furthest behind, first. SDG 5 aims to grant women and girls equal rights, opportunities to live free without discrimination including workplace
discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
or any violence. This is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
has affected women as they are more vulnerable and have reduced access to treatment. Evidence shows there has been an increase in violence against women during the pandemic.


Background

The
Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...
are a collection of 17 global goals set by the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
.United Nations (2017) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
A/RES/71/313
)
The broad goals are linked yet each has its own targets to achieve. The SDGs cover a broad range of social and economic development issues. These include poverty, hunger, health, education,
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
,
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
, water supply, sanitation, energy, urbanization,
environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
and
social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
.United Nations (2015) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
A/RES/70/1
)
The SDGs replaced the
Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...
(MDGs). The Outcome Document of the UN Summit on the
2030 Agenda The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...
is the document called "Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development". It includes an emphasis on the importance of achieving progress on peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice and rule of law, and effective, accountable and inclusive institutions. Providing women and girls with equal access to education,
health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
,
decent work Decent work is employment that "respects the fundamental rights of the human person as well as the rights of workers in terms of conditions of work safety and remuneration. ... respect for the physical and mental integrity of the worker in the ...
, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large. There are 9 targets and 14 Indicators for SDG 5. Gender equality by 2030 requires urgent action to eliminate many root causes of discrimination that curtail women's rights in private and public spheres. Eliminating gender-based violence and rape is a priority, given that it is a
human rights violation Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
. The commitment to advancing gender equality has brought improvements in some areas, but the promise of a world in which every woman and girl enjoys full gender equality and all
legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
,
social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
and
economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
barriers to their empowerment, including digital empowerment is still wanting. Providing women and girls with equal access to education, technology, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will nurture sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large. Achieving gender equality will require enforceable legislation that promotes empowerment of all women and girls and requires secondary education for all girls. The targets call for an end to gender discrimination and for empowering women and girls through technology. There is a direct relationship between technology advancement and women empowerment.


Targets, indicators and progress

The targets and indicators for SDG 5 are extensive and provide
equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The intent is that the important ...
for females (women and girls). Targets cover a broad crosscutting gender issues including ending all forms of
discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
against all females everywhere (Target 5.1), violence and exploitation of females (Target 5.2), eliminate practices such as
female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
and forced marriages (Target 5.3), increase value of unpaid care and promote shared domestic responsibilities (Target 5.4), ensure full participation of women in leadership and decision-making (Target 5.5), ensuring access to universal reproductive rights and health (Target 5.6), fostering equal rights to economic resources, property ownership and financial services for women (Target 5.7), promoting
empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...
of women through
technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
(Target 5.8) and adopting, strengthening policies and enforcing legislation for gender equality (Target 5.9). By strengthening the commitment towards a more gender equal world, the targets help in making the goals more specific. Indicators represent the metrics by which the world aims to track whether these targets are achieved.


Target 5.1: End discrimination against women and girls

The first target of SDG 5 is Target 5.1: "End all forms of
discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
against all females everywhere." This target has one indicator. Indicator 5.1.1: Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex. This means the indicator works towards the legal frameworks which can be applied to promote and enforce non-discrimination on the basis of sex across various measures including hiring, equal pay, marital rape and property rights, among others. Discrimination against women (or sexism) can be measured with a range of indicators such as early marriage, gender-based violence and women's property rights.
Child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a ma ...
has declined over the past decades yet there is no region that is currently on track to eliminate the practice and reach SDG targets by 2030. If current trends continue, between 2017 and 2030, 150 million girls will be married before they turn 18. Though child marriages are four times higher among the poorest than the wealthiest in the world, most countries need to accelerate progress among both groups in order to reach the SDG Goal 5 target to eliminate child marriage by 2030. Cultural belief of child marriage is the foundation in many cases of child marriage that need to be changed. Child marriage is directly related with maternal mortality and pregnancy related complications. A record of 143 countries guaranteed equality between men and women in their constitutions as of 2014. However, another 52 had not taken this step. In many nations, gender discrimination is still woven into the fabric of legal systems and social norms. The custodian agencies for Indicator 5.1.1 are
UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and focu ...
and World Bank.


Target 5.2: End all violence against and exploitation of women and girls

The full title of Target 5.2 is: "Eliminate all forms of violence against all females in the public and private spheres including
trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...
,
sexual Sex is the biological distinction of an organism between male and female. Sex or SEX may also refer to: Biology and behaviour *Animal sexual behaviour **Copulation (zoology) **Human sexual activity **Non-penetrative sex, or sexual outercourse ** ...
and other types of exploitation." This target has two indicators: * Indicator 5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age. * Indicator 5.2.2: Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence. The rate of constant intentional abuse against females is a widespread form of human rights offense worldwide. Globally, around 7% of women have been sexually abused by someone other than an intimate partner. Another concern is that many of the sex abuse cases are unreported and so data are sub optimal in many countries related to sexual violence.


Target 5.3: Eliminate forced marriages and genital mutilation

The full title of Target 5.3 is: "Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and
female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
(FGM)". evidence shows that there is no health benefit in the case of female genital mutilation Eliminating harmful practices is a way of ensuring that girls are able to live their live full potential lives without any harm. Reducing these risk allows for girls pursue their education, own their bodily autonomy and eventually become productive members of the social, economic and political processes. Educating women has a direct proportional relation with the development of the community. There are two indicators: * Indicator 5.3.1: Proportion of women aged 20–24 years who were married or in a union before age 15 and before age 18 * Indicator 5.3.2: Proportion of girls and women aged 15–49 years who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) or cutting In 2019, one in five young women 20 to 24 years of age throughout the world was married in
childhood A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...
, down from one in four in 2004 and with the highest figure in
sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
, with more than one in three young women. At least 200 million girls and women have been subjected to female genital mutilation, according to recent data from the 31 countries where the practice is concentrated. The harmful practice is becoming less common, but progress is not fast enough to meet the global target of its elimination by 2030.


Target 5.4: Value unpaid care and promote shared domestic responsibilities

The full title of Target 5.4: "Recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services,
infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate" This target has one Indicator: Indicator 5.4.1 is the "Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location". Unpaid care and domestic work includes cooking and cleaning, fetching water and firewood or taking care of children and the elderly. Women carry out at least two and a half times more unpaid household and care work than men. As a result, women have less time to engage in paid labor, work longer hours, combining paid and unpaid labor. Women's unpaid work subsidizes the cost of care that sustains families, supports economies and often fills in for the lack of social services. Yet, it is rarely recognized as "work". Taking cue from countries like Australia, Italy, Fiji, policies should be put in place to promote equal distribution of paid and unpaid work in households to reduce these gender gaps.


Target 5.5: Ensure full participation in leadership and decision-making

The full title of Target 5.5 is: "Ensure women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life." Advancing global norms and national practices to further women's leadership in politics and public institutions is important for
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
. Indicators are: * Indicator 5.5.1: Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local government * Indicator 5.5.2: Proportion of women in managerial positions As at 1 January 2020, representation by women in single or lower houses of
national parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
reached 25 per cent, up slightly from 22 per cent in 2015. Women have better access to decision-making positions at the local level, holding 36 per cent of elected seats in local deliberative bodies, based on data from 133 countries and areas. In 2019, 28 per cent of managerial positions in the world were occupied by women, a small increase from 25 per cent in 2000, while women represented 39 per cent of the world's workers and half of the world's working-age population.


Target 5.6: Universal access to reproductive rights and health

The full title of Target 5.6 is: "Ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Program-me of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the
Beijing Platform for Action The Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace was the name given for a conference convened by the United Nations during 4–15 September 1995 in Beijing, China. At this conference, governments from around the ...
and the outcome documents of their review conferences." Indicators are: * Indicator 5.6.1: Proportion of women aged 15–49 years who make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care * Indicator 5.6.2: Number of countries with laws and regulations that guarantee full and equal access to women and men aged 15 years and older to sexual and reproductive health care, information and education Based on data from 57 countries for the period 2007–2018, only 55 per cent of married or in-union women 15 to 49 years of age made their own decisions regarding
sexual Sex is the biological distinction of an organism between male and female. Sex or SEX may also refer to: Biology and behaviour *Animal sexual behaviour **Copulation (zoology) **Human sexual activity **Non-penetrative sex, or sexual outercourse ** ...
and
reproductive health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, healthcare, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual wellbeing during all stages of their life. The term can also be further de ...
and rights, ranging from less than 40 per cent in Central and Western Africa to nearly 80 per cent in some countries in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, South- Eastern Asia and
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
and the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
. In 2019, in the 75 countries with data, on average, 73 per cent of the laws and regulations needed to guarantee full and equal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights were in place. The findings are particularly encouraging with regard to
HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
: on average, countries achieved 87 per cent of enabling laws and regulations for
HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
counseling and test services, 91 per cent for HIV treatment and care services and 96 per cent for HIV confidentiality.


Target 5.7: Equal rights to economic resources, property ownership and financial services

The full title of Target 5.7 is: "Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws." The two indicators are: * Indicator 5.7.1: Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex; and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure * Indicator 5.7.2: Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including
customary law A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law". Customary law (also, consuetudina ...
) guarantees women's equal rights to land ownership and/or control


Target 5.8: Promote empowerment of women through technology

The full title of Target 5.8 is: "Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women." This target has one indicator: Indicator 5.8.1 is the "Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex". Technology is an important tool for learning, sharing and engaging that should include more gender specific policies that enhance equality. Empowering women with mobile telephones has been shown to accelerate social and
economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...
. However, in the 66 countries with data for the 2016–2018 period, the rate of mobile telephone ownership among men was on average 6.8 percentage points higher than the rate among women. There are wide gender gaps in internet access and use. Men are 21% more likely to have internet access than women, rising to 52% in the world's least developed countries. The majority of those offline are women in developing countries, reinforcing gender inequalities. Between 2013 and 2019, the gender gap in online use rose from 11% to 17%. In least-developed countries over the same period, the gap rose from 30% to 43%.


Target 5.9: Adopt and strengthen policies and enforceable legislation for gender equality

The full title of Target 5.9 is: "Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels." This target has one indicator: Indicator 5.9.1 is the "Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
and
women's empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several ways, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, and training.Kabeer, Naila ...
". Countries should work towards progressive gender equality policies that recognize how structures can enable progress towards women and girls empowerment.


Custodian agencies

Custodian agencies are responsible for monitoring and reporting of indicators: * Indicator 5.1.1: United Nations Women (UN Women), World Bank (WB), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) * Indicator 5.2.1 and 5.2.2: United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF),
UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and focu ...
, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), World Health Organisation (WHO),
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; French: ''Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime'') is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the ...
(UNODC) * Indicator 5.3.1 and 5.3.1: United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) * Indicator 5.4.2.: UNSD, United Nations Women (UN Women) * Indicator 5.5.1: IPU, United Nations Women (UN Women) * Indicator 5.5.2: International Labor Organization (ILO) * Indicator 5.6.1: and 5.6.2 is: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) * Indicator 5.a.1 and 5.a.2:
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
(FAO) * Informator 5.a.2:
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
(FAO) * Inidicator 5.1: International Telecommunication Union (ITU) * Inidicator 5.c.2: UN Women, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)


Monitoring and progress

An annual report is prepared by the
Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...
evaluating the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.United Nations (2017
Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals Report of the Secretary-General
, High-level political forum on sustainable development, convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, 11 May 2017
The SDGs face challenges if more attention is not given to addressing governance challenges crucial to their implementation. This involves considering how government, business, non-governmental organizations, civil society and researchers will work together. High-level progress reports for all the SDGs are published in the form of reports by the
United Nations Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...
, a recent one is the UN's High Level Political Forum thematic review of SDG 5.High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (2017
2017 HLPF Thematic review of SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls


Challenges


Impact of COVID-19 pandemic

The
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
in 2020 also poses a challenge in achieving gender equality. The impact of COVID-19 on women has been: # Compounded economic impacts particularly for women who are generally earning less, saving less, and hold insecure jobs or living close to poverty. # The health of women is adversely impacted through the reallocation of resources and priorities, including sexual and reproductive health services. # Unpaid care work has increased, with children out-of-school, heightened care needs of older persons and overwhelmed health services. # Gender-based violence has increased due to restricted movement and economic strain. The lockdown has increased the cases of women and girls violence with over 30% domestic violence increase. All of these impacts are made worse in contexts where countries have fragile and non-cohesive structures that are able to protect women and girls. The lack of strong institutional and systemic social cohesion continues to undermine the capacity and services needed to progressively achieve gender equality. The pandemic has affected national statistical systems as data collection operation is now a major workload for statistical agencies in countries with limited resources thereby pushing gender data way down the priority ladder.


Links with other SDGs

Even though SDG 5 is a stand-alone goal, other SDGs can only be achieved if the needs of women receive the same attention as the needs of men. Issues unique to women and girls include traditional practices such as female genital mutilation.
Gender equity Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
experts state that without progress on Goal 5, the other goals and targets cannot be achieved. The link between SDG 5 and the other SDGs has been extensively analysed by UN Women's report on gender equality in the
2030 agenda The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...
for
sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...
. For example, access to decent work and regular income for women directly contributes not only to poverty reduction ( SDG 1) but also support better education ( SDG 4), zero hunger (
SDG 2 Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2 or Global Goal 2) aims to achieve "zero hunger". It is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording is: "End hunger, achieve food security and im ...
), good health and wellbeing ( SDG 3) outcomes. Eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls (Target 5.2) is not only an essential component of SDG 5 but also critical to ensuring healthy lives and well-being for people of all ages (SDG 3). Women subjected to sexual or physical intimate partner violence are 1.5 times as likely to become infected with
HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
(Target 3.3). Environmental degradation ( SDG 13) has effects on food production, food safety and economic security of societies that depend on agriculture where women are. Eliminating these and other gender-specific constraints and other forms of discrimination is thus a critical agenda for SDG 5.


Organizations

Several global organizations have vowed to achieve progress towards SDG 5 in various ways. For example: *
UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and focu ...
works for the
empowerment of women Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several ways, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through Education, education, social awareness, awareness, literac ...
. *
Equality Now Equality Now is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992 to advocate for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls. Through a combination of regional partnerships, community mobilization and legal advocacy the or ...
advocates for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls. *
Vital Voices Vital Voices Global Partnership is an American international, 501(c)(3), non-profit, non-governmental organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights. The organiz ...
works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights. *
UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
works to promote women's participation and leadership in all forms of decision-making. *
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
builds partnerships across the global community to accelerate gender equality. *
WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
is working for a world in which no one misses out on health services because of their gender – or for any other reason.


US Based Organizations

In the US there are over thirteen thousand tax-exempt organizations working on issues related to UN SDG 5, according to data filed with the Internal Revenue Service –IRS and aggregated by X4Impact. X4Impact, with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and Giving Tech Labs, created a free online interactive too
Gender Equality in the US
This online tool enables users to see gender equality related indicators nationally and by state, as well as relevant information for over thirteen thousand tax-exempt organizations in the US working on issues related to UN SDG 5. The nonprofit data in the tool is updated every 15 days while the indicators are updated annually.


Society and culture

The
World Pensions Council The World Pensions & Investments Forum is a research and policy oriented conference organised by the World Pensions Council (WPC), also known as the International Association of Pension Funds (IAPF), in partnership with regional and supranational ...
(WPC) has insisted on the transformational role gender-diverse boards can play in that regard, predicting that 2018 could be a pivotal year, as "more than ever before, many UK and
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
pension trustees speak enthusiastically about flexing their
fiduciary A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other assets for another person. One party, for exampl ...
muscles for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 5, and to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls." Some have advocated for "listening to girls". The assertion is that the
SDGs The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...
can deliver transformative change for girls only if girls are consulted. Their priorities and needs must be taken into account. Girls should be viewed not as beneficiaries of change, but as agents of change. Engaging women and girls in the implementation of the SDGs is crucial.


References


External links


UN Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform – SDG 5

“Global Goals” Campaign - SDG 5

SDG-Track.org - SDG 5

UN SDG 5 in the US
{{Sustainable Development Goals Sustainable development Sustainable Development Goals United Nations documents