View of EMPOWERING WOMEN FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

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Vol. 05,Special Issue 03, (IC-WESD-2020) March 2020, Available Online: www.ajeee.co.in/index.php/AJEEE

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Empowering Women for Sustainable Development

1Manjeet Kour Arora, ²Ad Harjeet Singh Kukreja Shri Jain Diwakar College Indore, High Court Itarsi

Abstract:- Sustainable development as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development is development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It therefore encapsulates the needs of both women and men. Intra-generational equity cannot be achieved without addressing the gender relations which underlie prevailing inequity. Nor can inter-generational equity be obtained, or responsibility to pass on a more equitable world to future generations be met if inequalities continue to be perpetuated. This paper focuses on women‘s empowerment as a key process in reaching gender equality and, through that, sustainable development. It first discusses the concepts of women‘s empowerment and sustainable development and shows how both are inter-linked through the lens of intra and inter-generational justice. The remainder of the paper is then dedicated to the question of what needs to be done, and is being done, for women‘s empowerment, both through building an enabling policy environment and through enhancing women‘s capacity as active agents of change for sustainable development in the UNECE region.

Keywords: SDGs, SDG 5, gender equality, India, UN Women.

1. INTRODUCTION

The United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were established in 2000/1 and consist of eight development objectives to be achieved by 2015. There is need, however, for a successor framework once the MDGs expire in 2015. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) played a pivotal role in defining the MDGs.

The OECD has a number of areas of expertise which could play an important role in shaping this post-2015 agenda and framework. The OECD proposes eleven areas which would be of particular relevance (Beyond the MDGs: Towards an OECD contribution to the post-2015 agenda). This brochure focuses on policy coherence for inclusive and sustainable development. 1) Measuring what you treasure and keeping poverty at the heart of development 2) Developing a universal measure of educational success 3) Achieving gender equality and women‘s rights 4) Integrating sustainability into development 5) Strengthening national statistical systems 6) Building effective institutions and accountability mechanisms 7) Developing and promoting peace building and state building goals 8) Policy coherence for inclusive and sustainable development 9) Sharing knowledge and engaging in policy dialogue and mutual learning 10) Promoting the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation 11) Measuring and monitoring development finance The United Nations has accepted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) with specific targets to achieve within stipulated time.

The common goal of SDGs that no one will be left behind is a move towards equitable, egalitarian and inclusive society for all. It is a global call to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that people enjoy peace, get justice and prosper. It is not only the responsibility of scientists, policy makers, governing institutions to give us safe environment but we social scientists, scientists, NGOs have to join hands to explore opportunities and find strategies to protect our social, economic and environmental health.

This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. For sustainable development, eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions is accepted as the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement till 2030.

1.1 The concept Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is defined as ―development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.‖ The concept of needs goes beyond simply material needs and includes values, relationships, freedom to think, act, and participate, all amounting to sustainable living, morally, and Spiritually.

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1.2 Empowerment, Womens empowerment & Human Rights Empowerment

The process of gaining freedom and power to do what you want or to control what happens to you:

 female/youth empowerment

 political/economic empowerment

 Part of the philosophy of the World Wide Web is the empowerment of the individual 2. WOMENS EMPOWERMENT

Women's empowerment is the process of empowering women Empowerment can be defined in many ways, however, when talking about women's empowerment, empowerment means accepting and allowing people (women) who are on the outside of the decision-making process into it. ―This puts a strong emphasis on participation in political structures and formal decision-making and, in the economic sphere, on the ability to obtain an income that enables participation in economic decision-making. Empowerment is the process that creates power in individuals over their own lives, society, and in their communities. People are empowered when they are able to access the opportunities available to them without limitations and restrictions such as in education, profession and lifestyle. Feeling entitled to make your own decisions creates a sense of empowerment. Empowerment includes the action of raising the status of women through education, raising awareness, literacy, and training. Women's empowerment is all about equipping and allowing women to make life- determining decisions through the different problems in society.

Alternatively, it is the process for women to redefine gender roles that allows for them to acquire the ability to choose between known alternatives whom have otherwise been restricted from such an ability. There are several principles defining women's empowerment such as, for one to be empowered, they must come from a position of disempowerment. For example: A stripper no longer has to take off her clothes to get money and now is a receptionist for a respectable company. Empowerment stems from self respect.

Furthermore, one must acquire empowerment themselves rather than have it given to them by an external party. Other studies have found that empowerment definitions entail people having the capability to make important decisions in their lives while also being able to act on them. Lastly, empowerment and disempowerment is relative to other at a previous time;

therefore, empowerment is a process, not a product.

3. HUMAN RIGHTS

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to

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work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination.

3.1 Human Rights Council

The Human Rights Council, established on 15 March 2006 by the General Assembly and reporting directly to it, replaced the 60-year-old UN Commission on Human Rights as the key UN intergovernmental body responsible for human rights. The Council is made up of 47 State representatives and is tasked with strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe by addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them, including responding to human rights emergencies.

The most innovative feature of the Human Rights Council is the Universal Periodic Review.

This unique mechanism involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN member states once every four years. The Review is a cooperative, state-driven process, under the auspices of the Council, which provides the opportunity for each state to present measures taken and challenges to be met to improve the human rights situation in their country and to meet their international obligations. The Review is designed to ensure universality and equality of treatment for every country.

4. GENDER & GENDER EQUITY 4.1 Gender

Either of the two sexes (male and female), especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones. The term is also used more broadly to denote a range of identities that do not correspond to established ideas of male and female.

Gender has implications for health across the course of a person‘s life in terms of norms, roles and relations. It influences a person‘s risk-taking and health-seeking behaviours, exposure to health risks and vulnerability to diseases. Gender shapes everyone‘s experience of health care, in terms of affordability, access and use of services and products, and interaction with healthcare providers.

Gender intersects with other factors that drive inequalities, discrimination and marginalization, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, age, geographic location and sexual orientation, among others.

4.2 Gender equality

While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women‘s empowerment under the Millennium Development Goals (including equal access to primary education between girls and boys), women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world.

Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Unfortunately, at the current time, 1 in 5 women and girls between the ages of 15-49 have reported experiencing physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner within a 12-month period and 49 countries currently have no laws protecting women from domestic violence. Progress is occurring regarding harmful practices such as child marriage and FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), which has declined by 30% in the past decade, but there is still much work to be done to completely eliminate such practices.

Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large. Implementing new legal frameworks regarding female equality in the workplace and the eradication of harmful practices targeted at women is crucial to ending the gender-based discrimination prevalent in many countries around the world.

4.3 Indian New Gender Action Plan

The Lima Work Programme on Gender was established at the 20th Conference of the Parties (COP-20), held at Lima, Peru in December, 2014, through its Decision 18. The programme aimed at promoting gender balance and gender equality in the context of climate change policies. The Paris Agreement, adopted in COP-21 held in Paris in December, 2015, acknowledges promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women. The Government

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of India welcomes the adoption of the Gender Action Plan (GAP) under the Lima Work Programme on Gender, by the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) in its 47th Session, in order to advance women‘s full, equal and meaningful participation and promote gender-responsive climate policy and the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the implementation of the Convention and the work of Parties, the secretariat, United Nations entities and all stakeholders at all levels. India acknowledges the priority areas, key activities, timelines for implementation, responsible actors and indicative resource requirements for each activity identified under the GAP and welcomes the call for submissions by the SBI in its 47th Session on the following topics: A.2 Systematic integration of gender-sensitive and participatory education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information from national to local level into all mitigation and adaptation activities implemented under the Convention and the Paris Agreement, including into the implementation of NDCs and the formulation of long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies E.1 Sex-disaggregated data and gender analysis, where applicable:

(a) Information on the differentiated impacts of climate change on women and men, with special attention paid to local communities and indigenous peoples;

(b) Integration of gender considerations into adaptation, mitigation, capacity-building, Action for Climate Empowerment, technology and finance policies, plans and actions;

(c) Policies and plans for and progress made in enhancing gender balance in national climate delegations.

India reiterates that women are more at risk to the effects of climate change than men, as their needs are different and competitive. They face higher risks and greater burdens from the impacts of climate change in situation of poverty. Consequently, programmes that are designed without considering women‘s specific needs and their due participation are often found to yield inequitable output. India recognises that women‘s participation and empowerment mutually reinforce each other. A number of initiatives, systematically integrating gender considerations, are being implemented in the country to strengthen specialised skills and capacities of women in different spheres of livelihood systems. One of the most significant gender sensitive programmes of the Government of India is the Prime Minister‘s scheme, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna (PMUY), which aims to safeguard the health of women and children by providing them with a clean cooking fuel - LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) so that their health is not compromised due to burning and collection of firewood.

Under the scheme, 50 million LPG connections will be provided to families below poverty line. Ensuring women‘s empowerment, especially in rural India, the connections are being issued in the name of women of the households. Government of India is in the process of developing its National REDD+ strategy, and while moving forward towards its implementation, it aims at ensuring participation of local communities with compulsory representation of women as the central theme. Another scheme, being implemented by the Government of India is ‗Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women‘

(STEP) which aims to provide skills that give employability to women and provide competencies that enable them to become self employed/entrepreneurs in sectors including but not limited to Agriculture, Horticulture, Food Processing, Handlooms, Tailoring, Stitching, Embroidery, Handicrafts, Computer & IT enabled services etc. Government of India is also coming up with a new scheme namely, ‗Mahila Shakti Kendra‘ to empower rural women through community participation and to create an environment in which they realize their full potential. It aims at providing an interface for rural women to approach the government for availing their entitlements and empowering them through training and capacity building.

The Government of India is also encouraging gender-responsive budgeting in the country through various measures including setting up Gender Budgeting Cells in the Ministries and Departments with the following objectives: organising workshops to facilitate capacity building and training for various stakeholders; providing assistance to develop training modules/packages, training material and information booklets and manuals for gender budgeting; to provide assistance to support research studies, surveys, etc to Research Institutes, NGOs for gender budgeting; piloting action on gender sensitive review

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of national policies such as fiscal, monetary, environment, trade etc.; piloting action on gender review and gender audit of important legislations; undertaking collection of gender- disaggregated data; conducting gender based impact analysis, beneficiary needs assessment and beneficiary incidence analysis etc. The national as well as the international climate delegation of India is considerably represented by women delegates.

5. ROLE OF INDUSTRY IN PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Industry increases productivity, job creation and generates income, thereby contributing to poverty eradication and addressing other development goals, as well as providing opportunities for social inclusion, including gender equality, empowering women and girls and creating decent employment for the youth.

5.1 Importance of Education for Sustainable Development

The 17 Proposed Sustainable Development Goals and 169, targets to realize the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, the social and environmental. Beyond the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that emphasized only equality of opportunity, the 2030 (SDGs) Agenda acknowledges that equality must be based on both opportunity and outcome. Many other targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are linked to women's empowerment: there are targets on gender dimensions of poverty, health, education, employment and security. These goals are the showcase that how women are affected by 17 proposed SDG,s as well as how women and girls can — and will — be key to achieving each of these goals. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are:

1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere

2) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

3) Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

5) Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

6) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all 7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

8) Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster Innovation

10) Reduce inequality within and among countries

11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

14) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

17) Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

5.2 Sustainable Development Goal-6

Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls the following target has been included to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls:

1) End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere;

2) 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;

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3) Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation;

4) 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;

5) Ensure women‘s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life;

6) 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.

6. CONCLUSION

Women need to be "empowered" in order to narrow the "gender gap" and to create an equal playing field between women and men before gender equality can be reached and maintained. All SDG‘s are talking about gender sensitizations in one or the other way. The contribution of women in all fields needs to be enhanced by ensuring their full economic growth. Gender bias is still deeply embedded in cultures, economies, political and social institutions around the world. Women and girls face unacceptable levels of discrimination and abuse, which is not only wrong, but also, prevents them from playing a full part in society and decision-making. Yet women's empowerment must not mean simply adding to their burdens of responsibilities or building expectations of women as 'sustainability saviors‘. To mainstream the involvement of women and girls in sustainable development, it demands a change in attitudes and behaviour towards women and girls across all levels. All 17 SDG‘s will collectively help to achieve gender equality through women empowerment and only the achievement of SDG-5 alone will not create a gender-equal world. All countries should shoulder the responsibility and support each other countries side wise side to ensure the full implementation and achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development.

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