Gender Equality and Women Empowerment

This article discusses the importance of gender equality and women empowerment in achieving sustainable development goals. It addresses social determinants that influence gender equality and women empowerment on the social, political and economic environment.

Running Head: GLOBAL HEALTH ADVOCACY AND POLITICAL PRIORITY 1
Gender Equality and Women Empowerment
Name:
Institution:

Gender Equality and Women Empowerment 2
Introduction
United Nations (n.d) states that, gender equality is important to human and also a
necessary foundation for sustainable peace in the world. The essence of gender equality is to
provide women and girls equal opportunities to the male gender where they have access to health
care, decent work, education, economic and political decision-making processes. Various targets
are set to ensure that this sustainable development goal got achieved. According to the UN
Economic and Social Council (2017), the gender equality and women empowerment require
vigorous efforts which include legal frameworks. These legal frameworks help in lawfully
dealing with gender-based discrimination which is often a result of social norms. Furthermore,
there are various Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that got targeted by this goal five of the
United Nations. Some of these targets include ending any form of discrimination against all girls
and women in the world. Also, the SDG targets to eliminate any harmful practice on women
such as forced and early marriage, female genital mutilation. Moreover, SDG targets to ensure
that there is global access to reproductive and sexual health and enable the use of technology in
promoting women empowerment (UN Women, n.d).
Addressing the Social Determinants of Health
1. Expanding and Supporting Women’s Economic Opportunities
According to Vazirova (2017), expanding of women’s economic opportunities, women
empowerment includes implementing and designing macroeconomic policies which enhance
women’s economic opportunities. In spite of that, the macroeconomic policies ensure that
women have access to decent work which ensures women’s rights get protected. Also, the
policies ensure any form of the property gets secured and enhancing women’s access to financial
services. Some of these financial services include microfinance which helps in the evaluation and

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rewarding them for unpaid domestic work and care. Vazirova (2017) states, “The introduction of
programmes, such as mentorship and foreign exchange, to support girls in the STEM (Science
Technology Engineering and Math) can help close the gendered digital divide” (p.44).
2. Gender, Gender Equity, and Equality
Gender plays a crucial role in the biological differences between women and men which
affects ages, race, economic, geographical and political environment. The gender equity enables
the allocation of programs and resources that are equal to men and women. This enables both
genders to enjoy similar rights and opportunities due to equal allocation of resources and
involvement of women in the decision-making process. The essence of SDG goal 5 (gender
equality and women empowerment) is that most women face difficulties in being involved in
decision-making processes regarding social and economic resources. Pathania, (2017) states,
“The Gender Action Plan 2016–2020 recognizes that gender equality is a matter of human rights,
the foundation of democracy and good governance, and the cornerstone of inclusive, sustainable
development. It acknowledges the underpinnings of gender inequality, namely the unequal
gender power relations and gender-biased social norms that discriminate against women and
girls, marginalizing them from the benefits of social, economic and political” (p.75)
3. Promoting Human Rights on Harmful Traditional Practices
The building of law enforcement and judiciary ensures gender justice for women who have
been gender discriminated against and faced harmful traditional practices. Also, the policies help
in addressing violence against women and creating public awareness of the importance of
women sexual and reproduction health. Furthermore, the development of interventions that
ensure girls get access to primary, and secondary education. This gets done mostly in

Gender Equality and Women Empowerment 4
marginalized areas which gives scholarships and tax credits related to education which
encourage girl education and women empowerment. According to Regan (2018), “The social
determinants of this indicator and these measures include the status of girls in society, their level
of empowerment and their ability to make healthy choices – all of which gets reflected in the
lack of educational opportunities for girls in many countries worldwide” (p.6). According to the
SDG 5, gender equality and women empowerment, advocates for girls and women in education
(UN Women, n.d).
4. Education Importance in Sustaining Development
The essence of gender quality in education is promoting the rights of women, and the
commitment to SDG 5 gets shown by the development of gender-sensitive policies. Furthermore,
education has helped in eliminating some gender-based discrimination and violence against
women in schools. According to Pathania (2017), “UN World Survey on ‘the Role of Women in
Development 2014’, as female education levels rise, infant and child mortality rates fall, and
family health improves. Education also increases women's participation in the labor force and
their contributions to household and national income. Women's increased earning capacity, in
turn, has a positive effect on children's nutrition, health, and educational prospects” (p.78).
5. Industry’s Role in Sustainable Development
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) provides the industry
with a foundation for promoting business investments and technological upgrades. By involving
women in the development of technology, there are new jobs created which creates employment
(Pathania, 2017). Thus, women become economically empowered which impacts positively in
sustaining economic growth and industrial development. UNIDO also aims at creating programs

Gender Equality and Women Empowerment 5
that promote women growth and development which has a positive impact on the communities
and national economy.
Application of “What’s the Problem” Analysis
1. Gender, Women, and Development
According to Bacchi (2009), the “What’s the Problem” approach is a tool which is
intended to enhance interrogation of public policies. For instance, if the forms of training get
recommended to improve the status and promote opportunities to women, then the implication is
that lack of training becomes the setback. Johasson, (2016) states that the publication of Ester
Boserup showed how European aid projects, policies and its workers discriminated against
women. Furthermore, women did not get involved in development activities, thus, no resources
got allocated to them. The problem created by this is that there was a segregation effect where
men got training for modern machinery and cash-crop production.
On the other hand, women got trained only for issues about domestic welfare. It led to a
productivity gap where men got considered as breadwinners for family wages. Women were
considered to partake in household chores and motherly roles. The Ester Boserup created
concern regarding this because it was a problem in that women only got considered on maternal
and domestic roles and not productive roles that men played. The adopted framework by the
international community (the 1970s), Women in Development (WID) (1980s) were to help in
women development that enhanced efficiency in development processes, thus, the use of the
efficiency approach. Moreover, the empowerment approach got used in supporting women
agencies to protect women sexuality, race, and class.
2. Gender Mainstreaming

Gender Equality and Women Empowerment 6
The Gender mainstreaming was a concept that got created due to the wide exclusion of
women when it came to development management. The concept got adopted by the United
Nations in 1995 (Beijing) on the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women which is
as follows:
“Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women
and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at
all levels. It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an
integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and
programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit
equally, and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve
gender equality” (Johasson, 2016, p.12).
The concept highlighted the essence of gender equality which acts as the basis for economic
and social development. The main aim and difference of this regime were to ensure both men
and women had an equal platform in all the activities they did. Also, gender mainstreaming has
gotten criticized for poor and untimely results which got based on short-lived projects.
Furthermore, gender mainstreaming has been problematic in that knowledge has resulted in
increases in social changes which consist of education and awareness activities.
3. Political Decision-making
Maloutas, Bustelo, Lomnardo, and Meier, (2005) states that an analysis the position of
women in Spain about political decision making diagnosed fewer women were involved in
important policy-making decisions. In the Netherlands, the policies made by the government in
promoting women’s participation in public governance and politics got highly neglected. Some
of the problems presented were that there were limited assessment and monitoring of policies
which would help to increase the number of women engaging in politics. In Spain, the main
problem presented was that women not getting represented in significant positions in the labor

Gender Equality and Women Empowerment 7
market both in public and private enterprises. Also, there was under-representation when
political parties and regional and national parliamentary representation. In Greece, women
lacked equal opportunities when it came to decision making which was due to the Greek
reasoning that hindered democracy. Also, the Greek government was reluctant to provide the
citizens with equal opportunities and rights. “As a consequence, women’s lack of equal
opportunities is a problem for the quality of democracy. However, it seems that the framing of
the issue greatly varies depending on the occasion. The problem tends to be presented as a
democracy issue when for instance the pro-quota speaker addresses an audience that is perceived
as not necessarily friendly to quotas, such as the Greek Parliament, as a way to pass legislation
through” (Maloutas et al., 2005, p.6).
Theory of Health Change Advocacy
According to the Document of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(2016), the theory of change’s successful implementation acts as a significant contributor to the
success of the strategy. Furthermore, the theory of change may require the Strategic Gender
Initiative (SGI) to get incorporated during the implementation period. These enhance the
delivery and operational performance while also improving the environmental operation.
UNFPA (2014) states that the MDGs and ICPD Programme of Action affirmed gender equality
and reduced women discrimination of their reproductive rights and reducing poverty by
enhancing sustainable development. Thus, gender equality and women empowerment
advancement is a goal by itself and are centralized on achieving SDG. Despite that, some
countries still have frameworks which hinder women’s reproductive rights. Moreover, gender
equality challenges got linked by sociocultural norms and violating the rights of reproductive
rights.

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Figure 1: The Theory of Change
According to UNFPA (2014), the new strategic plan of UNFPA (2014-17) outlined
contribution through strengthening national and international protection systems which would
help in advancing reproductive rights of women. Moreover, it would promote gender equality
and addressing any form of gender-based violence. Also, the outcome of the strategy was to

Gender Equality and Women Empowerment 9
prevent gender violence and enable delivery of humanitarian rights. UNFPA states, “In
collaboration with OHCHR, WHO and civil society organizations (CSOs), UNFPA will
advocate for the development of international human rights standards and accountability
frameworks, to track reproductive rights within the context of the Universal Periodical Review
(UPR) in the countries that are going through the annual periodic review” (p.11).
Conclusion
The article addresses social determinants that influence gender equality and women
empowerment on the social, political and economic environment. Some of the social
determinants of gender equity and equality which influences how various resources get
distributed in regards to gender. In spite of that, the article gives a detailed explanation of how
the “What’s the Problem” analysis influences political decision making in various countries and
gender mainstreaming. Furthermore, the theory of change gets applied in addressing the gender
equality and women empowerment. The theory of change helps in promoting women
empowerment and gender equality by improving the reproductive rights of women.

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