How gender affects all aspects of sustainable development

“’To work for a significant increase in investments to close the gender gap” is a commitment of the 2030 Agenda. Development finance or “aid” is one important contribution to financing gender equality and women’s empowerment in developing countries. Based on data from Aid Atlas, we can see that aid that integrates gender equality is generally increasing, which is a positive sign. But we can also see how funding for dedicated gender equality projects represents only a small fraction of total aid.

Looking ahead, it is important to analyze financing for gender equality to understand where finance efforts should be focusing and whether efforts are having an impact on the ground.”

“Fossil fuel transitions need to consider the equity of both men and women. When male miners lose their jobs it can have psychological effects that impact the whole family. Women in the family may have to find additional work to supplement the household income, and they may only be able to find part-time or underpaid jobs that do not provide them with benefits like healthcare and paid leave. So it’s really important when planning for a just transition to really consider the needs of women and the impacts that it has on them.”

“The process of decarbonization should be used as an opportunity to address long-standing economic and social inequalities, such as gender. However, in practice, many just transition policies and responses designed to support affected workers and regions have failed to explicitly acknowledge these inequalities and to address their underlying causes. This is problematic from a moral standpoint, of course, but also from a practical one: it can undermine social trust, which is essential for successful societal transitions.”

“My work involves trying to understand the (often) hidden forces driving behaviour and decision making, and how this knowledge could inform the design of systems and services to better meet needs. This involves talking with households in low-income parts of the world about their lives. I am constantly struck by the multiple roles played by women, as mothers, house managers, farmers, and providers of basic services, and the complexity that these multiple responsibilities bring to understanding “household behaviour”. These dimensions need to be acknowledged and understood if we are to design services and systems that address the needs of all household members.”

“In the work I do, there is very little representation of women. I believe this has biased the way in which decisions have been made regarding water allocation around the world. We need to change that. We need more women at the table, representing their communities and their points of view. And ultimately, to ensure water solutions for the future are smart by including diverse perspectives.”

“It has been shown that the lack of access to safely managed sanitation facilities puts girls and women in a high state of vulnerability — exposing them to risks of insecurity, discrimination and harassment when trying to take care of their personal hygiene needs. In order to address this issue, we as WASH professionals need to make sure that we look beyond the technical aspects of sanitation service provision and highlight the importance of designing facilities where girls and women can take care of their personal hygiene in a safe and dignified way.”