Day 10: The Goal 5 “Gender equality” presented at the SDGs consultations

The Goal 5 “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” was the focus of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) consultation, co-led by the UN Women and the National Institute of Democracy and Human Rights under the President of Turkmenistan. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and World Health Organization (WHO) have contributed to the discussion of the Goal 5. The goal includes the following background,

«Empowering women and promoting gender equality is crucial to accelerating sustainable development. Ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls is not only a basic human right, but it also has a multiplier effect across all other development areas.

 Ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health, and affording women equal rights to economic resources such as land and property, are vital targets to realizing this goal. There are now more women in public office than ever before, but encouraging more women leaders across all regions will help strengthen policies and legislation for greater gender equality.» [1]

Representatives of about thirteen national ministries and agencies discussed the proposed nine targets to the Goal 5 and their relevance to Turkmenistan. Participants of today’s consultation agreed to adopt seven global targets as is. One has been adjusted to the local context. One has been modified due to the positive progress in the field and now the country will continue the work on another level. Ten of 14 indicators were accepted without modification. Two were changed to the local context, and one requires further clarification.

The importance of women participation at all level of decision making in political, economic and public life was discussed during the consultations. Women already participate in many spheres in the country, for example 26,4% of women represented in the parliament. Today situation is promising with women at high-level ministerial positions and local municipal bodies.

Reproductive and sexual health also drew attention during the consultations. While there are many available services on reproductive health, the participants noted the importance of raising public awareness on reproductive health through health centers and schools. Sexual and reproductive health education is also need to be a part of school program.

The participants stressed the importance of making public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment. They proposed to study gender budgeting approach for this purpose.