WOMEN’S RIGHTS BY JESSIE TAYLOR
In pursuit of equality: The road to meeting South Africa’s gender equality goals
A
s in many parts of the world, gender inequality remains a challenge in South Africa. And while the country continues to make great progress in empowering women and creating equal opportunities, there is still work to be done if we are to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Today, more women have access to education, participate in the economy and hold political leadership positions than in 1994. But women still face inequality in accessing employment, are more likely to experience poverty, and are often victims of gender-based violence. A global effort towards equality The SDGs are a global call to action to end poverty, protect the earth’s environment and climate, and ensure that people everywhere can enjoy peace and prosperity. They seek to achieve gender equality by 2030. The SDGs aim to end all forms of discrimination and violence against all women and girls everywhere, whilst also recognising and valuing unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services,
infrastructure and social protection policies, as well as ensuring women’s full participation and equal opportunities for leadership in political, economic and public life. The Goals call on countries to implement reforms that give women equal rights to economic resources. However, reports have raised a red flag that achieving them appears to be stagnating, and more than three billion girls and women still live in countries with poor scores for gender equality.According to the Equal Measure’s 2022 SDG Index, the global score for gender progress increased only from 66 to 67.8 out of 100 between 2015 and 2020 and South Africa is ranked ‘fair’ with a score of 70.1 as of 2020. This is well above the regional average of 52. The index found that not one of the 144 countries has achieved gender equality. Only one country in every four is making fast progress towards gender equality and it
August 2023 | Public Sector Leaders | 41
