Gender equality and women’s empowerment: The foundation stones of sustainability

Abstract

Achieving gender equality will require enforceable legislation that promotes empowerment of all women and girls and requires secondary education for all girls. The targets call for an end to gender discrimination and for empowering women and girls through technology some have advocated for "listening to girls". Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly. On 25 September 2015, the 193 countries of the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Development Agenda titled "Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. Ecofeminism says that women are closer to nature than men are. This closeness, therefore, makes women more nurturing and caring towards their environment. Women empowerment to promote sustainability is not simply an altruistic pursuit that requires philanthropic responses. It is a goal in itself for a variety of reasons and only one of numerous strategies that could be employed for the goal of sustainability to be achieved.