HE ASKED ME WHAT POSITION I LIKE.I SAID ‘CEO’.

SDG 5:GENDER EQUALITY
SDG 5 is about achieving gender equality and female empowerment. While the world has achieved some progress toward this goal under the UN Millennium Development Goals, women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world.
 
The lack of equality between women and men is a serious obstacle to sustainable development and growth. This goal is about providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes. This goal is about eliminating violence, discrimination, and harmful practices toward women. This will undoubtedly benefit societies and humanity at large, and fuel sustainable economies.

GLOBAL PROGRESS SO FAR
 
Gender equality and women’s empowerment have advanced in recent years. Girls’ access to education has improved, the rate of child marriage has declined and progress has been made in sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights.

• About 2/3 of countries in developing regions have gender parity in primary education
• Globally, women’s participation in parliament rose to 23% in 2016, representing an increase of 6% over a decade
• In 1990 in Southern Asia, 74 girls were enrolled in primary school for every 100 boys. In 2012 the enrolment rations were almost equal for girls as for boys.
• The proportion of women in paid employment outside the agricultural sector in Northern Africa has increased from 35% in 1990 to 41% in 2015

 
BUT THERE IS MORE TO BE DONE

• Violence against women and girls still occurs, violating their human rights and hindering development.
  • In 52 countries, 21% of women aged between 15 and 49 experienced physical and/or sexual violence at the hands of an intimate partner in a year
  • 70% of victims of human trafficking detected worldwide are females
• Salaries are still not equal
  • On average women in the labour market still earn 24% less than men globally
• Men and women still do not share the burden of domestic work.
  • In every region, women and girls do the bulk of unpaid work, including caregiving and such household tasks as cooking and cleaning
  • On average, women report that they spend 19% of their time each day in unpaid activities, versus 8% for men
  • The responsibilities of unpaid care and domestic work, combined with paid work, means greater total work burdens for women and girls and less time for rest, self-care, learning and other activities
• Not all girls have access to education.
  • In sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania and Western Asia, girls still face barriers to entering both primary and secondary school
• Gender equality before the law does not necessarily mean women have equal opportunities in practice. However, assuring women’s rights through legal frameworks is a first step in addressing discrimination against them.
  • As of 2014, 52 countries have yet to guarantee equality between women and men

 
MEN – I would like to take this opportunity to extend to you a formal invitation – gender equality is your issue too.
 
Discrimination against women persists, directly and indirectly, through laws and policies, social norms and practices, and gender-based stereotypes.
 
Imagine how terrifying it is for your self-worth to be entangled with what others think of you. Let’s change that.
 
WHAT SDG 5 MEANS FOR SEYCHELLES
 
The high level of social development and the absence of blatant discrimination against women here in Seychelles lead to the assumption that gender equality has been achieved. However, challenges still exist. These include:

• Gender Based Violence (GBV)
• High rates of teenage pregnancy
• Higher levels of poverty amongst single parent households that are predominantly female
• The increasing incidence of sex work
• The gender dimensions of illicit drug abuse and HIV and AIDS.

 
There is also a perception that boys and men are being marginalised in the provision of services. This needs to be rectified through reinforcing the role of men and boys as partners in promoting gender equality.
 
Violent crime, family disintegration, child abuse, poverty, domestic violence – all of the issues that affect our society have profound gender dimensions.
 
WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING ABOUT IT?

• Seychelles follows the targets set out by the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development that represents commitments made in all sub-regional, continental and global instruments for achieving gender equality
• Seychelles takes cognisance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
• Gender equality forms part of the broader commitment by the Government of Seychelles to human rights and social justice as set out in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
• In 2015 the Ministry of Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports introduced the National Gender Policy that provides national guidelines for institutionalising and operationalising gender as an integral component of local sustainable development

 
These measures signal the Government’s continued commitment to the attainment of Constitutional rights and gender equality as a cornerstone for ending poverty and achieving long-term sustainable social change by meeting the aspirations of all Seychellois.
 
WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
 

 
For starters, don’t be like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast (pictured above).
 
For the goals to work, people need to know about them.
 
We need you to help us tell everyone about #SDG5, the #GlobalGoals, and advocate #Sey4SDG.
 
Our country will only meet these SDGs if we fight for them, so SHARE all the knowledge you got today. Tell your friends, your local community. Allow the information shared today to give you a new perspective. Perhaps now you are more aware of how the stereotypes of women we often use are damaging.
 
Join the global conversation. Use the hashtags, download the SDG app, visit globalgoals.org – help make the SDGs famous and tell the leaders of the world that this is what we want.
 
You can also visit http://www.globalgoals.org/take-action/ and choose an NGO to get involved with: Global Citizen, Save The Children, UNICEF, UNDP – the choice is yours.
 
Every voice should be heard – make yours count.
 
Contributed by Nandita Nair
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