Role of Women in achieving Sustainable Develo...

Role of Women in achieving Sustainable Development

Author Name : Santosh Kumar Behera

ABSTRACT

The term “sustainable development” was first used in 1972 at the cocoyoc declaration on environment and development, but after Stockholm conference 1972 it became the most important theme of all conference and declaration on environment .According to Brundtland Commission (1987) sustainable development is “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs”. Now only ten years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. So the world leaders at the SDG Summit in September 2019 called for a decade of action and delivery for sustainable development, and pledged to mobilize financing, enhance national implementation and strengthen institutions to achieve the Goals by the target date of 2030.For this active participation of women is vital for ensuring sustainable development. Equality between men and women is also a precondition for sustainable development. Women have a strong role in educating and socializing their children. Sustainable development cannot be achieved without the full and equal participation of women. Yet women continue to be underrepresented in decision-making .When it comes to representation of women in legislative bodies, India is among the bottom group of nations in the world. Women's representation has always been less than 50 in Lok Sabha and 5% in the State Assemblies. On the other hand, the situation is different in the case of local government bodies. As one-third of seats in local government bodies (panchayats and municipalities) is reserved for women, there are more than 10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and urban local bodies. Empowering women is a process that involves creating non-discriminatory environment for women and strengthening their capacity to take control of their own lives and contribute fully to bringing about the necessary changes in our societies. These are the mechanisms which must be followed by the Government and corporate sectors jointly by proactive action.