If we are to earn the respect of the world as an economic superpower, it is high time that we as a nation stand up and acknowledge that it is not enough to launch schemes and programmes and pass bills. We need to pay far more attention to the actual process of implementation
India is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which requires the Government to adopt measures for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
Image: Sajjad Hussain / AFP
Over 20th and 21st Sept 2023, both houses of Parliament passed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or the Women's Reservation Bill 2023, to ensure equal representation of women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. Given that it is the first Bill to be passed in the new parliament house, the event can have symbolic as well as actual significance if it marks true intent on the part of our elected representatives to implement the Bill in letter and spirit. While political empowerment, which the Women's Reservation Bill represents, is just one form of women empowerment, the Bill needs to be viewed holistically from a larger lens of overall women empowerment, which includes economic, social, educational and legal empowerment, all of which are interlinked.
On December 1, 2022, India took on the Presidency of the G-20 forum for 2023, with the theme of "One Earth, One Family, One Future". A key area of focus for the constituent countries of G20 is to accelerate progress on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Hence, the Women's Reservation Bill marks a noteworthy step towards fulfilling one of the SDGs, Gender Equality (SDG 5). As per UN Women, empowering women can have beneficial effects on other SDGs too, such as on SDG 8, to promote full and productive employment and decent work for all, on SDG 1 for ending poverty, on SDG 2 for food security, on SDG 3 for ensuring health and on SDG 10 for reducing inequalities.
However, before we celebrate the passing of the Women's Reservation Bill, a few sombre facts need to be highlighted to put things in perspective. In a recent study, the authors analysed global data for 22 years for 163 countries (signatories to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the UN) on progress made by each country on developmental parameters related to the 17 SDGs. The countries were divided into four clusters based on the World Bank Income group nomenclature—HIC (High-Income Countries), UMIC (Upper and Middle-Income Countries), LMIC (Lower and Middle-Income Countries) and LIC (Low-Income Countries). Progress data for a country for each of the SDGs were compared not only vis-à -vis global progress but also progress against countries in one's own cluster.
Also read: Explained: The Women's Reservation Bill and when will it be implemented