The document discusses sustainability, gender equality, and the SDGs. It emphasizes that promoting gender equality and empowering women is crucial for sustainable development. While progress has been made in increasing girls' education and women's workforce participation, significant inequalities remain regarding access to paid work, violence against women, and women's representation in decision-making. The SDGs aim to end all forms of discrimination against women. The SDG Fund places gender equality at its core and ensures all programs mainstream gender. Examples from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Palestine show efforts to increase women's economic opportunities, access to resources, and participation. Achieving gender equity is critical for sustainable development to benefit all of humanity.

1. SUSTAINABILITY AND
GENDER EQUALITY
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
SUBMITTED BY: GARGI BHATELE
02806142018
SEMESTER 5

2. INTRODUCTION:
◦ Empowering women and promoting gender equality is crucial to
accelerating sustainable development. Ending all forms of
discrimination against women and girls is not only a basic human right,
but it also has a multiplier effect across all other development areas.
◦ Since 2000, UNDP together with our UN partners and the rest of the
global community has made gender equality central to our work, and
we have seen some remarkable successes. More girls are now in school
compared to 15 years ago, and most regions have reached gender
parity in primary education. Women now make up to 41 percent of paid
workers outside of agriculture, compared to 35 percent in 1990.
◦ The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to build on these
achievements to ensure that there is an end to discrimination against
women and girls everywhere. There are still gross inequalities in access
to paid employment in some regions, and significant gaps between
men and women in the labour market. Sexual violence and exploitation,
the unequal division of unpaid care and domestic work, and
discrimination in public decision making, all remain huge barriers.

3. SOLUTIONS
◦ End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
◦ Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres,
including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation
◦ Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital
mutilation
◦ Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services,
infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the
household and the family as nationally appropriate
◦ Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels
of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life
◦ Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in
accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and
Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review
conferences
◦ 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
◦ Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications
technology, to promote the empowerment of women
◦ 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

4. THE SDG FUND RESPONSE
◦ The SDG Fund has placed gender equality and women’s empowerment at the heart of its efforts to
accelerate progress towards the SDGs. By directly empowering women and by bringing a gender
perspective to all development work, we can build a more equitable, sustainable future for all. All
SDG Fund programmes mainstream gender into their implementation and monitoring plans.
◦ For example,
◦ In Bangladesh, the labor force participation of rural women is only 36.4% compared to 83.3% of
men. Creating employment and income generating opportunities for women and enhancing their
access to social protection will help reduce gender disparities.
◦ In Ethiopia, rural women lag behind in access to land property, economic opportunities, justice
system and financial assets. Women farmers perform up to 75% of farm labor but hold only 18.7%
of agricultural land in the country. The SDG Fund is using a multifaceted approach to generate
gender-sensitive agricultural extension services, support the creation of cooperatives, promote the
expansion of women-owned agribusiness and increase rural women’s participation in rural
producer associations, financial cooperatives and unions.
◦ In the occupied Palestinian territory, the SDG Fund joint programme is helping to improve the
livelihoods of Palestinian women. The programme is building the capacities of women-owned and
run MSMEs and cooperatives, preserving cultural and agricultural products, and turning them into
marketable and exportable products. In addition, the programme is protecting local production
and establish incentives for women cooperatives.

5. CONCLUSION
◦ Achieving gender equity is critical to sustainable development. In all societies women’s and men’s roles are socially constructed, but
all too frequently gender-based disparities exist that disadvantage women; this impedes their development and hence that of
humankind.
◦ Despite decades of effort, overall progress in improving women’s lives has been inconsistent. Moreover, environmental benefits and
burdens affecting human capabilities are inequitably distributed. Women are still underrepresented in all levels of government and
other decision-making arenas, whether at work or, for many, at home. Such lack of power is linked to higher levels of female poverty,
especially in rural areas of developing countries where women are responsible for 60–80 per cent of food production as well as fuel
and water provision yet have little access or control over natural assets such as land, water and ecological conditions that create
opportunities for a better life.
◦ A sustainable development pathway must be established which has an explicit commitment to gender equality and seeks to enhance
women’s capabilities, respect and protect their rights and reduce and redistribute their unpaid care work. Women must have full and
equal participation in decision making and policy development to create this pathway.
◦ This collection of resources provides arguments for a gender perspective in development in order for it to be really sustainable.

6. THANK YOU