DEVELOPMENT 75 commitments are reiterated in “ the 2030 Agenda for Global Action ” which sets out the new SDGs . The challenge now is to turn words into action with and for women .
There is now widespread recognition that gender equality is both a matter of human rights and is catalytic for growth and development . Studies show that children born to women with some formal education are more likely to survive to their fifth birthday , receive adequate nutrition , and be immunized and enrolled in school .[ 1 ] Access to sexual and reproductive health services enables women to plan their families and expand their opportunities , and it also helps reduce both maternal and child mortality .
Empowering women helps drive economic growth , making investing in gender equality important to the G20 agenda . At the last G20 Summit in Brisbane , leaders rightly agreed on “ the goal of reducing the gap in participation rates between men and women by 25 per cent by 2025 , taking into account national circumstances , to bring more than 100 million women into the labour force , and significantly increase global growth and reduce poverty and inequality ”. This is an important step .
Reducing gender inequality in a major sector like agriculture is vital for enhancing economic growth , food security , and the well-being of families and communities . According to a report by the United Nation ’ s Food and Agriculture Organization , while women supply nearly half of global agricultural labor , they do not reap the same rewards as their male counterparts . The report contends that if women had the same access to productive resources as men , they could increase yields on their farms by twenty to thirty per cent . That could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5 to four per cent per annum , and reduce the number of hungry people in the world by twelve to seventeen per cent .
The need to level the playing field for women farmers is recognized in SDG 2 on ending hunger , which includes the target of doubling by 2030 the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers , namely women , through equal access to land , and to resources such as financial services and markets . Under the leadership of the Turkish Presidency , G20 members are about to adopt an Action Plan on Food Security and Sustainable Food Systems , through which they will support food system employment and entrepreneurial opportunities , in particular for smallholders including women and youth .
In many places , women bear the primary responsibility for growing food , managing natural resources , and securing the energy needs of their families . The new climate agreement must respond to and support the central role of women in building climate-resilience and supporting low emission development . Because women are so often on the frontlines of climate change and disasters , their full participation in global policymaking and implementation , including in the new Paris accord , is vital for action on climate change .
The United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP ) makes achieving gender equality a central focus of its efforts to eradicate poverty . Our work includes preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence , which persists everywhere . It includes providing support for genderresponsive economic policy-making and women ’ s participation in decision-making , including for peace making and peace building . This focus is reinforced by SDG 16 , which aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development , including by ensuring responsive , inclusive , participatory , and representative decisionmaking at all levels .
There is no silver bullet for achieving sustainable development , but investing in gender equality is certainly a critical component of our efforts build a more inclusive , sustainable , and resilient world . �
“ There is now widespread recognition that gender equality is both a matter of human rights and is catalytic for growth and development . Studies show that children born to women with some formal education are more likely to survive to their fifth birthday , receive adequate nutrition , and be immunized and enrolled in school .”
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