SDG Gender Index for 2019 was developed by Equal Measures 2030, a joint effort of regional and global organisations including African Women’s Development and Communication Network, Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation etc. It accounts for 14 out of 17 SDGs (sustainable development goals) that cover aspects such as poverty, health, education, literacy, political representation and equality at the workplace. India is at 95th among 129 countries. A score of 100 reflects the achievement of gender equality in relation to the targets set for each indicator.

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Key findings of the SDG Gender Index:

• The global average score of the 129 countries (with 95% of the world’s girls and women) is 65.7 out of 100 (“poor” in the index).
• Nearly 1.4 billion girls and women are living in countries that get a “very poor” grade.
• Altogether, 2.8 billion girls and women live in countries that get either a “very poor” (59 and below) or “poor” score (60-69).
• Just 8% of the world’s population of girls and women live in countries that received“good” gender equality score (80-89).
• Notably, no country achieved an “excellent” overall score of 90 or above in gender equality.
• Besides, not all countries’ scores on the index correlate with national income.
• Some countries perform better than what would be expected based on their GDP per capita, and others underperform.
• With all these, it was highlighted that the world was far from achieving gender equality.

India’s performance:

• India’s highest goal scores are on health (79.9), hunger & nutrition (76.2), and energy (71.8).
• Its lowest goal scores are on partnerships (18.3, in the bottom 10 countries), industry, infrastructure and innovation (38.1), and climate (43.4).
• On indicators that define the goals, India scored 95.3 on the percentage of female students enrolled in primary education who are overage.
• In the proportion of seats held by women in national parliament, India scored 23.6; women made up 11.8% of Parliament in 2018.
• On seats held by women in the Supreme Court (4%), India has a score of 18.2.
• Overall, India largely performs as expected based on its GDP per capita.

Gender-based violence in India:

• Proportion of women aged 20-24 years who were married or in a union before age 18 (27.3%)
• Women who agreed that a husband/partner is justified in beating his wife/partner under certain circumstances (47.0%)
• Women aged 15+ who reported that they feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where they live (69.1%)

Conclusion:

The above findings reveal that India is lagging behind in Gender Parity. This was supported by findings in the global Gender Gap index too where India was ranked 108. It is important to empower women who form half of the population to achieve the goals of SDG.