Empowered Women the Heart of Sustainable Development: IWD2022

The theme for 2022 International Women’s Day, observed globally on March 8, is spot on: 

“Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.”

As I was pondering over this post yesterday before I learnt about the theme, I thought up the title. Empowered women are the heart and at the heart of Sustainable Development and Gender Equality, SDG 5 is vital if the Global Goals are to be respectably reached by 2030.

#HappyWomensDay2022
Always remember #EmpoweredWomen are the heart and at the heart of #sustainabledevelopment #SDG5 #GenderEquality for #GlobalGoals.
"Gender Equality today for a #Sustainable tomorrow." - an apt theme for 2022.
Pics courtesy #EcoWithEmhttps://t.co/TvzLe187xa pic.twitter.com/cZPEDPpYaJ

— Raakhee Suryaprakash (@10sunshinegal) March 8, 2022

Every sustainable development goal (SDG) becomes effective if it is gender just. It’s a theme I regularly harp on – educated girls and empowered women are the building blocks of a sustainable community. The crucial steps needed to offset the patriarchy which is the main stumbling block to sustainable development.

 

 

Even as I sat down to write this post, I received a mail from Black by ClearTax, the platform I use to file my IT returns, citing their data analysis of investment pattern which shows that against stereotype, women are investing 12.7% more than men on average. This statistic resonates with social media trends that’s replete with examples of posts, reels, short videos and viral content of women advising women on finance and investment putting financial security at the heart of women’s empowerment.

 

From women-majority Self Help Groups, women-led and women-majority panchayat institutions to women’s financial services such as Mahila Bank (e.g., Chetna Gala Sinha, who established the women's rural banking institutions, Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank) to women entrepreneurs–focused online platforms such as SHEROES, for women-by women angel investing, and initiatives such as Feminist Approach to Technology, feminist city planning and Feminist Foreign Policy being adopted by some nations can jumpstart gender equality in the micro and macro levels as well as locally and globally.

 

One of the low hanging fruits of international aid is packages for training and funding women entrepreneurs. It is as popular as educating girl children as a strategy for poverty alleviation and social upliftment through women’s empowerment. Yet access to funding and support to women-led initiatives is still unequal. Networks of women within institutions and MNCs, locally, nationally and internationally are helping close this gap, e.g., Sakhi (Accenture India), Wsquare, National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO, UK), Vital Voices, SHE Changes Climate, Lean In, Shevolve, etc. Crowdsourced maps and resources such as that of the Red Dot Foundation and the Red Elephant Foundation (the GBV Help map and the Saahas app) are equally vital is ensuring security and empowering women.

 

As mainstream media frenziedly covers the war in Ukraine ignoring and downgrading other vital issues, observances such as International Women’s Day, World Wildlife Day (March 3^rd), World Water Day (March 22^nd) will shift the narrative at least temporarily. The events of the 66^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW22) scheduled from March 14 to March 25, 2022, will also help keep the focus on gender mainstreaming and the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.

 From poverty alleviation to tackling climate change and building the economy and strong institutions and international partnerships for progress all require a gender just and feminist approach.  

This #WomensDay,a glance at how #climatechange is being increasingly linked with rising sex trafficking and #prostitution in #developingcountries that are most prone to climate disasters. From my column with @TheHinduMag https://t.co/zECwE3Z65b#cartoons #comics #greenhumour pic.twitter.com/oHoM9JrGd6

— Green Humour (@thetoonguy) March 7, 2022

The 12 critical areas of concern of the Beijing Platform for Action along with Gender Just Sustainable Development are the perfect guideposts and milestones to aim for in the path to empowering women and achieving Gender Equality. They are as follows: 

• Women and the environment
• Women in power and decision making
• The Girl Child
• Women and the economy
• Human rights of women
• Education and training of women
• Violence against women
• Women and poverty
• Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women
• Women and health
• Women and armed conflict
• Women and the media.