Sustainable Development: Gender Equality

Sustainable Development: Gender Equality
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Sustainable Development: Gender Equality
Girls' and women's empowerment and working toward gender equality by ensuring equal participation in every aspect of society are imperative to sustainable development (University College for Interdisciplinary Learning, n.d). The 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 contains guidelines for governments to plan actionable policies to empower all girls and women and achieve gender equality (United Nations, n.d). SDG 5 is also related to SDG 10 of reducing inequalities within and among countries. In particular, income inequalities create or worsen socioeconomic disparities among minority populations (University College for Interdisciplinary Learning, n.d). SDG 5 and SDG 10 recognize the empowerment of women and girls and gender equality as priority areas to "leave no one behind (University College for Interdisciplinary Learning, n.d)." The agenda offers an opportunity to transform women's and girls' lives and speed up progress toward sustainable development. As a fundamental human right, gender equality is critical to a prosperous, peaceful, and sustainable world. Although there have been significant developments toward gender equality and women's empowerment through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), such as equal primary education access among girls and boys, women and girls still face violence and discrimination globally. Building on the same targets in MDG, SDG 4: Quality Education recognizes education as a fundamental human right. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) agrees that education is critical in building resilient, inclusive, and sustainable societies. SDG4 links to other SDGs in promoting gender equality, reducing inequality, and improving mental and physical health (University College for Interdisciplinary Learning, n.d). Therefore, SDG5 aims to empower women and girls and ensure gender equality. The United Nations recognizes increasing inequality across and within nations as one of the leading factors undermining the agenda of sustainable development that threatens to reverse the gains witnessed in the last decades of improving people's lives (University College for Interdisciplinary Learning, n.d). This paper explores the problem and scale of gender inequality and proposes policy solutions and potential challenges in the implementation of the solutions.
The Scale of Gender Inequality Globally
The United Nations estimates that 750 million girls and children were forcefully married before 18, and at least 200 million girls in 30 states have been through female genital mutilation (FGM). However, in the 30 states, the number of girls between 15 and 19 forced into FGM dropped to 1 in 3 girls in 2017 from 1 in 2 girls in 2000. The United Nations also notes that in 18 states, husbands can lawfully deny their wives from going to work and that boys and girls have different rights in terms of inheritance in 39 countries globally. In 49 states, women are not legally protected from domestic violence. At least one in five girls and women and 19 percent of women and girls between 15 and 49 years have experienced sexual and physical violence fro...