GENDER

EQUALITY
& SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT

GENDER EQUALITY &

SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
The image, is a representation of a woman,
reminding the commitment to gender equality
and the realization of women and girls human
rights is fundamental to achieving sustainable
development.
The braid depicts the three dimensions of
sustainability - environmental, economic and
social, as three separate sections of a braid
that interweave and intersect, becoming one.
The braid is a symbol of strength &
interconnections, and thus alludes to a
comprehensive approach to sustainable
development.

Sustainable development is economic, social and

environmental development that ensures human wellbeing and dignity, ecological integrity, gender equality
and social justice, now and in the future

WHY FOCUS ON GENDER AND

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ?
Gender equality promotes development.
Gender disparities are barriers to development
imposing heavy costs on society in terms of reduced
growth and lower poverty reduction.
Conversely, addressing gender differences and
reducing gender disparities through sustainable
development projects and policies can also improve
development effectiveness and sustainability .

WHY FOCUS ON GENDER AND

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ?
Gender analysis is carried out in projects as an
integral par t of social analysis.
Gender analysis asks questions about the
differences between men's and women's activities,
roles, and resources in order to identify their needs,
constraints, and opportunities.
Thus, gender analysis can help identify which
sustainable development activities are needed by
both men and women and how gender roles might
affect project outcomes.

WHY LINKING GENDER EQUALITY

WITH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ?
It is a moral and ethical imperative.
Efforts to achieve a just and sustainable future
cannot ignore the rights, dignity and capabilities of
half the worlds population.
To be effective, policy actions for sustainability must
equalise the uneven effect on women and girls of
economic, social and environmental shocks and
stresses.
Womens knowledge, agency and collective action
has huge potential to improve resource productivity,
enhance ecosystem conservation and sustainable

WHY GENDER EQUALITY MUST BE

AT THE CENTRE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ?
Achieving sustainable development
means recognizing the synergies
between
gender
equality
and
sustainable
sustainability and engaging with
the tensions and trade-offs that
inevitably arise between the three
dimensions of sustainability and
Forging any sustainable development pathway must include an
with the integration of gender
explicit commitment to gender equality, womens empowerment
equality;
and womens rights in its conceptualization and
implementation.

WHY GENDER EQUALITY MUST BE

AT THE CENTRE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ?
This requires inclusive deliberation processes and ways
to monitor exclusions and trade-offs.
The active participation, leadership and creativity of
civil society and womens organizations, communities
and concerned individuals are critical to such
deliberations.

For pathways to be truly sustainable and advance gender

equality, those whose lives and well-being are at stake must be
involved in decision-making and leading the way, through
collective action and engagement

WORLD SURVEY ON THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN

DEVELOPMENT 2014

Assess the likelihood of policy actions achieving gender

equality.
1. Do they support womens capabilities and their
enjoyment of rights?
2. Do they reduce, rather than increase, womens unpaid
care work?
3. Do they embrace womens equal and meaningful
participation as actors, leaders and decision-makers?

WORLD SURVEY RECOMENDATIONS

Develop and implement policies on the economic,
social and environmental dimensions of sustainable
development in line with international norms and
standards on gender equality, non-discrimination and
human rights.
Promote transitions to sustainable low- carbon,
climate-resilient consumption and production patterns
while ensuring gender equality.
Ensure womens right to an adequate standard of
living, through increasing access to decent work and
providing gender-responsive, universally accessible
and high quality services, social protection measures
and infrastructure, including education, health, water

WORLD SURVEY RECOMENDATIONS

Promote a renewed social contract between states and

people that ensures the financing and implementation
of sustainable development, with universal access to
public goods and services and common pool resources,
particularly for the poorest groups of women and girls.
Recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid care work
between women and men within households, and
between households and the state by expanding basic
services and infrastructure that are accessible to all.

WORLD SURVEY RECOMENDATIONS

Respect, protect and promote sexual and reproductive
health and rights for all, particularly women and girls,
across the life cycle.
Protect the commons and prevent the appropriation
and exploitation of natural resources by private and
public interests, through state oversight and multistakeholder regulation.
Ensure the full and equal participation of women and
girls in sustainable development policies and initiatives
as actors, leaders and decision makers.

WORLD SURVEY RECOMMENDATION AREAS

1. GREEN ECONOMY, GENDER EQUALITY AND CARE
2. FOOD SECURITY
3. POPULATION
4. INVESTMENTS
THAT
ACCELERATE
REALIZATION OF GENDER EQUALITY
5. FINANCING MEASURES
6. DATA AND STATISTICS

THE

CONCLUSION
Current trends in relation to growth, employment,
food, population, water and sanitation, and energy
provide
examples
of
how
unsustainable
development and gender inequality reinforce each
other.
The active participation, leadership and creativity of
women, civil society and womens organizations,
communities and all concerned individuals in such
processes are critical.
In particular, voices and movements from the
margins that offer powerful alternatives for
transformed, more sustainable futures grounded in
gender equality and human rights should be sought,