28 April 2017: Shahrashoub Razavi, UN Women, shares highlights from a forthcoming flagship publication from UN Women, titled ‘SDG Monitoring Report and Gender Equality.’ According to Razavi, four elements are needed in order to realize the agreed road map to gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Writing in a blog series hosted by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) on the upcoming 2017 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), Razavi says one of the key elements for realizing the road map, which was agreed at the 2016 session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 60), is to complement the targets under SDG 5 (gender equality) with targets under other SDGs. For example, investments in public services and infrastructure (relating to SDG targets 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.b and 9.1) could be designed to “reduce the drudgery of unpaid domestic and care work.” Achieving access to social protection (SDG 1) and full and productive employment/decent work for all women and men and equal pay for work of equal value (SDG 8) would also support the achievement of SDG 5.

Multi-pronged strategies are needed to address SDG targets 5.2 and 5.4, writes Razavi.

Another key element highlighted by Razavi to reach the road map is to identify policy pathways that would enable societies to achieve the Goals. Multi-pronged strategies are needed to address two manifestations of gender equality, in particular: eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls in both public and private spheres (target 5.2); and recognizing and valuing unpaid care and domestic work (target 5.4).

On measurement and monitoring, Razavi writes that the forthcoming UN Women report “examines the status of gender equality across the 17 SDGs, using available data to show where we are today and where we need to be to achieve gender equality by 2030.” She reports that for 23 of the 53 gender-related indicators, there are no internationally established methodology and standards. For another 21 indicators, methodology and data at the country level exists, but coverage is low and uneven.

The DESA blog series has published several other contributions in recent weeks, including on: the potential of information communications and technology (ICT) to “fast forward progress” on all 17 SDGs, while “building out from SDG 9,” written by ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao; the need for more strategic partnerships to implement the SDGs and fight illicit financial flows, contributed by Luckystar Miyandazi, European Centre for Development; and the need for on-the-ground action and mobilizing talent outside of government, by Vaughan Turekian, Co-Chair of the STI Forum, and Science and Technology Adviser to the US Secretary of State. [UN Women Blog Post] [HLPF Blog] [Agreed Conclusions of CSW 60] [CSW 60 Webpage] [UN Women’s Work on SDGs]