What is the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #5 on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment?

In 2015, the United Nations adopted a list of 17 “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDG), providing targets for the world to meet by the year 2030 in order to ensure a livable, more equal planet. As March is Women’s History Month, there’s no better time of year to learn about UN SDG 5, achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. The struggle for the fundamental human right of women’s equality has been going on for centuries, and progress has been slow but real in many parts of the world. However, we haven’t come far enough yet. Women around the world remain under-educated, under-paid and under-represented in leadership positions, compared to their male counterparts. True equality means unlocking the potential of billions of women around the world. It means giving women everywhere the education, skills and support they need to be healthy, productive and successful. And no matter your gender, everyone benefits when we empower women. Gender equality has been shown to promote better economic growth, a more educated society, a safer society, and a society where every single person can thrive. To make that world a reality, the UN and its member countries pledged to follow Sustainable Development Goal 5, which seeks to accomplish the following by 2030:

• Ending all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
• Eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation
• Eliminating all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation
• Recognizing and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies, as well as the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate
• Ensuring women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life
• Ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action
• Undertaking reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws
• Enhancing the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women
• Adopting and strengthening sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels

How Embrace Relief is helping to empower women

The Embrace Relief Foundation believes that the best way to impact the lives of individual girls and women is to provide them with the education and skills they need to join the workforce and grow into higher-level leadership positions. Monetary donations to our R.I.S.E. program – that stands for Reach. Inspire. Support. Educate. – go directly to tuition, health insurance, books, transportation and meals for dozens of women in Tanzania who are currently studying to earn diplomas in education management and administration and school inspection. Our current program provides 24 women with the financial tools they need to complete a two-year course and earn diplomas in Education Management and Administration (DEMA) and School Inspection (DSI). This program aims to lift the burden of financial difficulties related to continuing education. Those that graduate with a degree in Educational Management will be empowered with the knowledge and skills they need to improve the education system and compete in a male-dominated labor market. Through increasing the number of quality assurers and education officers, our partnership works to improve the education conditions in Tanzania. But we can’t do any of this without you. So please, donate today. With every $100 donated to R.I.S.E., you are empowering one more woman to unleash her potential, making her life – and the world – better for it.