Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment is the commitment contained within Sustainable Development Goal 5, which we will discuss in depth today.

If every cause has an effect, every problem has a solution. Under this premise, the United Nations formulated 17 ambitious objectives in its so-called 2030 Agenda with the aim of putting an end to the major problems affecting our society. These challenges, called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), were developed over more than two years of public consultations with civil society and UN member countries. Today we venture into a deeper understanding of Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. Join us.

As the United Nations states in its manifesto, “gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but is also one of the essential foundations for building a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world.” This statement captures the essence of Sustainable Development Goal 5. In recent decades, great progress has been made in equality in both developed and developing societies. In addition to the ever-increasing rate of girls’ schooling and the increasingly rare practice of early marriage in developing countries, there has also been a significant increase in the representation of women in institutional, parliamentary and leadership positions. However, this is by no means sufficient, as demonstrated by the reports cited by the United Nations itself. And we continue to live in a world in which women remain underrepresented at all levels of political leadership (only 23.7% of parliamentary positions are held by women), and 1 in 5 women between the ages of 15 and 49 report having suffered sexual or physical violence at the hands of a partner in a 12-month period.

That is why Sustainable Development Goal 5 seeks to tackle these problems once and for all, something for which it has the firm commitment of all countries and social agents that have signed the 2030 Agenda.

Main goals of Sustainable Development Goal 5

Within the strategy for the total elimination of these barriers and stigmas against women, the UN has drawn up a roadmap based on a series of goals that, assumed as commitments, equalize the role of both genders in society. Let’s look at these goals:

5.1  End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere

5.2  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

5.3  Eliminate all harmful practices, including child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation

5.4  Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through public services, infrastructure and social protection policies, and by promoting shared responsibility within the household and family, as nationally appropriate

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

5.6  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, the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences

5.a  Undertake reforms that provide women with equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other assets, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws

5.b  Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women

5.c  Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable laws to promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels

A goal within reach of social agents such as the company

Although many of these goals have a generalist component that may seem distant from social agents such as companies, their commitment is essential to try to promote a cultural change within companies and, therefore, within societies. This is why various companies have redoubled their efforts to promote, among other things, full participation and equal opportunities in their processes and businesses.

An example of this is the launch and deployment of various equality plans, the ultimate goal of which is to increase not only the female presence in companies, but also their leading role in decision-making.