Gender Inequality in South Asia: Tracing Impediments to SDG 5 of UN Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030) of the United Nations are the blueprints for a prosperous and sustainable future for the whole world. The SDG 5, entitled, ‘to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’, is one of its important goals. In South Asia, women have always been ostracized and remained underprivileged in accessing their rights due to gender inequality. Therefore, the study traces the entrenched problems and impediments to gender equality and explores the extent, range, and accessibility of women’s rights in the South Asian region, which supports the quest for women’s gender equality in achieving the United Nations SDGs. Qualitatively, findings reveal the abysmal position of South Asian region typifying low echelons for gender equality in every sphere. Hence, it focuses on suggesting efficacious measures such as improving the social and political rights of women and their full and effective inclusion in the mainstream that can help in women’s advancement and to curb gender inequalities that give significant impetus for the sustainable development of the region.