Sustainable Development Goals and Gender Equality

This article explores the sustainable development goals and ways in which these goals can influence gender equality and its impact upon sustainability. Main goal of this article is to identify ways in which sustainable development can enhance gender equality and ways in which it can influences other sustainable development goals like education, no poverty, zero hunger and good health and wellbeing.

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Sustainable development goals influence gender equality, education and
shaping the future to empower women
This article explores the sustainable development goals and ways in
which these goals can influence gender equality and its impact upon
sustainability. Main goal of this article is to identify ways in which sustainable
development can enhance gender equality and ways in which it can influences
other sustainable development goals like education, no poverty, zero hunger and
good health and wellbeing. Gender equality helps in empowerment of ‘women
and girls’ as well as help in providing necessary targets for addressing some of
the issues that are faced by women and for making social changes and future
decision making in order to eliminate discrimination. This article analyses a
sustainable vision and would further investigate social, economic, and
environmental pillars to progress towards future with equal opportunities with
equal pay. These key concepts will create social change and would help in
encouraging more women to gain an education and create further employment
opportunities for addressing gender wage gap and gender division. In order to
achieve some of the main sustainable development goals for 2030 and for the
future of sustainability, this article would examine women in education and
employment through the political sphere, woman in leadership with political
power and how they are still facing challenges and ways in which this affects
gender equality. This document will further focus upon sustainable development
goals that shape and influence gender equality and the future for women to gain
an education, change stereotypes that can end poverty, and have a better health
and wellbeing.
Gender Equality, social pillar, and sustainable development within the SDGs
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Gender inequalities impact sustainable development. It is extremely
important to focus upon bringing improvement for equal opportunities for women.
One of the primary sustainable development goal is gender equality. Sustainable
development goals (SDGs) can be defined as a development plan and a guide
for all countries to follow key issues and frameworks that address the seventeen
global goals that will help nations to develop more sustainable future (Kates et
al., 2005, 12). Gender equality is one of the most important SDG vital issues. Its
specific goal is to empower women and for girls to have equal opportunities;
however, it further impact other sustainable development goals such as quality
education, zero hunger, poverty and decent work and economic growth (ref from
the UN). Examining concepts such as health, education, economics, and politics
can help in achieving positive outcome within reaching the sustainable
development goal ‘gender equality’ (Kim 2017, 242). For example, the
challenges within the political structure of only a certain number of women are
represented in political leadership. This raised concerns that there are not
enough women in power who can make decisions that can impact the future of
women’s rights and make necessary changes in particular areas such as the
gender wage gap.
Gender inequalities is one of the most important factor which is required
to be focused upon in terms of sustainability so that women can move ahead in
future for having equal decision making for their freedom, equal rights to work
opportunities, values and beliefs are expressed without judgment, and their ideas
are contributed to cultural, socioeconomic, and to the political environment
(Thiele 2016, 11). By examining SDGs, and their targets goals will enable its
progress and identify ways in which gender will affect the future of sustainable
development. This can help in identifying required necessary actions and
possible outcomes on framing a better social system and eradicating inequalities
within the social and economic spheres to empower women with future decision
making and promote future leadership.
Social, economic, and environmental pillars provide the necessary
frameworks to make social change through the political sphere to provide equal
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opportunities for women to reduce poverty, provide better education, and provide
more professional career opportunities with equal pay. Dias (2020) explains
‘economic empowerment in the social and economic sites of inequalities and
ways in which these are challenged within a structural system of power (Dias
2020, 2). It has further been identified that Women generally face discrimination
in terms of gender wage gap, and equal employment opportunities.
To reach the target goals of gender equality and achieve its crucial
message of empowering all women and girls Sen (2019) supports the idea of
‘feminist advocacy’ by recognising some of the key targets and indicators that
can help in achievement and elimination of discrimination in terms of equal
opportunities and equal pay, and equal job opportunities (Sen 2019, 35). A
sustainable vision that analyses the social pillar and gender inequality by
implementing a more positive outcome within the SDGs will provide the
necessary frameworks to tackle some of the issues raised within the social pillar
and gender inequality.
Some of these social issues raised in gender equality are the gender
wage gap, socio-economic class, education and health, and political
empowerment. More needs to be done in the political system to make some of
the necessary changes to empower women and girls. The solidary between
women and women’s groups have provided the pathway to encourage and
promote women’s rights and address women’s experiences of discrimination,
forced marriage, employment, and education opportunities with equal rights with
equal pay (Dhar 2018, 54). It further helps in understanding importance
identified social factors and their implications on economic and environmental
pillars surrounding gender and sustainability.
With the growth of economic and social pillars, concerns for
environmental pillar and their impact upon gender equalities have increased.
Ried et al. (2017) describes ways in which environmental constraints impact
women. This article further helps in providing an example that explains that
‘environmental hazards’ can be one of the reason because of which woman have
pregnancy complications (Reid 2017, 182). Environmental hazards are
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impacting women’s health and comprising their wellbeing within the SDG
framework that is outlined in goal three, ‘good health and wellbeing’. More needs
to be done within the political sphere and ensuring policies are developed and
maintained, which is vital for women’s health and their children.
Social change to women’s inequalities would impact other goals within
the SDGs by reducing poverty, ending hunger and achieve food security, and
gaining an education. If there is more commitment to ‘gender equality and to
empower more women, this would generate opportunities and encourage women
to gain an education and further possibilities of leadership and political roles.
This would promote solidarity and provide a much better future for women with
equal opportunities.
Women in Education, Employment, and the Political sphere
Education is the key to empower women and can help in creating
employment opportunities for them as well as a possible career in leadership and
political roles. Education is another important SDG goal that can help in provision
of learning opportunities, and entitled school education for everyone. According
to Freidman et al. (2020), there is still much-needed progression in education
and gender equality. The gender differences within the education system show
that women do not further their education and do not have a secondary
education. At the same time, men are still more educated at a higher level than
women. (Freidman et al., 2020. 637). By 2030, the goal was to reduce education
and inequality in the SDG targets. However, this is proving to be more
challenging to achieve as some countries are not close to reaching this goal.
The trajectories analysed through statistical data show that these estimations of
reaching targets are providing uncertainty for the future, and education is still a
challenge for women to obtain.
If there is more encouragement to empower women through education,
this will challenge the gender wage gap and women will be paid the same as a
male and equal access to career opportunities. Economic, social, and political
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factors impact women’s career and development choices, and there are not
enough women in leadership roles and political power. Segunio (2020) discusses
‘gender division’ and ways in which feminist economics has identified and
constructed a framework that can influence and support the economic structure
(Segunio 2020, 27). This economic structure addresses gender wage gap,
employment opportunities, leadership, and management roles. Changing policies
for bringing improvement within workplace flexibility and slowing down the
gender divide strengthens the economy by women receiving the same pay as
men and changing social attitudes that women can be in leadership.
There are still social constraints, and the patriarchal structures that still
results in increasing challenges for women in the workplace. Patriarchal can be
defined as power relations in a structural system based on the male gender in
leadership. (Patel et al., 2020 3). Kabeer (2016) outlines that more number of
women should challenge the power structure. More women in political
leadership will change social and economic growth by addressing the gender
wage gap and change the stereotypes that women are more likely to look after
their children first and not be available for work (Kabeer 2016, 300). If there are
more women in power, this will transform women to voice their concerns on
inequalities and change the social system that will provide communities with
infrastructures to help other women be better educated and find future
employment.
Women need more empowerment to be educated that will influence their
employment choices, and will further help in eliminating some of the SDG goals
and targets. More access to education and training will affect the economic
structure which will further help women in gaining more control over making
future decisions and encourage more women to participate in political leadership.
Women will have more power to make policy changes and make changes to
legislation, and women will gain a better ‘quality of life’ to end poverty for future
generations.
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Woman in leadership and political power and the future of sustainable
development
If women in leadership is merged with the future of sustainable
development then it can help in achievement of SDG goals in education, gender
equality that can end poverty, and food security are challenging for women to
gain political power. For the welfare and protection of society and to future
generations, it is our moral responsibility to provide equal opportunities, take
action, and make social change for everyone's well-being (Thiele 2016, p.) More
effort through the political sphere needs to be done to promote women in power
that can be part of social change and influence policy and decision making to
enforce social justice to advocate and empower women through education.
There are still hierarchy boundaries, and traditional methods that works
as a barrier in path of women’s leadership and makes it difficult for them to
navigate these challenges. The first Australian female prime minister, Julia
Gillard, changed ideologies of women being in power with her misogyny speech
in 2012. Julia identified key issues of women in leadership and how she had to
endure some of the discrimination that she faced, such as gender and
management, sexism, and how she managed her role as the prime minister
(Wright and Holland 2014, 456). There are still some hidden ideologies within
women in political leadership, and there is a belief that women need to be
assertive and have masculine traits to be in power. Julia Gillard is an example
who influenced other women to gain an education and change the stereotypes
that women can have a career in politics.
This altered the path of gender and leadership, and research is
suggesting that there is a missing link between gender inequalities and political
knowledge (Roig, Aybar and Pavia 2020, 2). There are theories to suggest that
men still have more political knowledge than women do, and males primarily
dominate gender and leadership
There is a need of more women in politics that can influence sustainable
development goals and change the course to diminish the gender wage gap.
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More women in leadership will directly help in encouraging and increasing
education among women that can further help in provision of better quality of
education which will eventually lead women into political leaders who can make
the social change and form new social attitudes.
While there is progress made within gender equalities and sustainability
and there are now more women voicing their concerns on issues such as gender
wage gap, gender division and gender inequality in employment. This article has
investigated some important sustainable development goals and ways in which
gender equality affect other sustainable goals such as education, poverty and
good health and wellbeing. By examining these goals and identifying the
necessary actions and how women face discrimination, and locating inequalities
through the pillars of social, economic, and environmental spheres, women can
be empowered through feminist advocacy and women’s right and make social
change to some of these inequalities. There still needs to be more advocacy
through women’s leadership roles through the political structure that can change
future decision making to policies and legislation. This evidence shows that
through education, women can be empowered and the future of sustainability will
provide equal opportunities for all.
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