EMPOWERING WOMEN AND ACHIEVING GENDER PARITY

Abstract : Gender equality and women's empowerment have been major global concerns over the last decade. The empowerment of women—in areas such as information and communication technology (ICT), education, employment, political representation, and health and personality traits—is crucial to achieving gender equality. Change in society is gender equality and women's empowerment are cornerstones of sustainable development, and sustainable development cannot flourish without them. Thus, it is argued that achieving gender parity is not just a matter of basic human decency but also a necessary condition of and a measure of long-term progress towards a better world. It is also true that gender inequality is pervasive in all societies and that progress towards sustainability would be impossible until significant action is taken to address this problem. The need of establishing gender equality in order to build a more equitable and sustainable society and to empower women to better provide for their families and communities is also emphasised. However, the country's progress would be hampered if efforts to promote gender equality are not sustained. Stevens (2010) makes an intriguing point by emphasising that "high economic costs are growing and contributing to social disparities and environmental degradation throughout the globe. Most crucially, gender-based discrimination and inequities remain pervasive in India, despite the government's best efforts to the contrary. As a consequence, the gender gap persists and women's lack of empowerment slows the country's progress. Even while there has been progress in many areas, it is unclear whether or not this can be maintained. Therefore, this research highlights the importance of women's empowerment and achieving gender equality for a nation's long-term prosperity.摘要： 近十年来，性别平等与女性赋权一直是全球瞩目的核心议题。女性赋权——涵盖信息与通信技术（information and communication technology）、教育、就业、政治代表权、健康与人格特质等领域——是实现性别平等的关键所在。社会变革层面，性别平等与女性赋权是可持续发展的核心基石，若无二者支撑，可持续发展便无法蓬勃推进。因此，有观点认为，实现性别平等不仅是基本人类道义的要求，更是迈向更美好世界的必要前提与长期进步的衡量标准。毋庸置疑，性别不平等在全球所有社会中均普遍存在，若不采取有力行动解决这一问题，可持续发展进程便无从谈起。研究同时强调，构建更加公平公正的可持续社会、赋权女性以更好地照料家庭与社区，亟需推进性别平等。然而，若无法持续推进性别平等相关工作，该国的发展进程将受到阻碍。史蒂文斯（Stevens，2010）提出了一个耐人寻味的观点：日益攀升的高额经济成本正在加剧全球范围内的社会不平等与环境退化。最为关键的是，尽管印度政府已尽最大努力推行相关举措，但基于性别的歧视与不平等现象在该国仍普遍存在。由此，性别差距依然存在，女性赋权不足也拖累了该国的发展进程。尽管诸多领域已取得进展，但目前尚不清楚这些成果能否得以持续。因此，本研究着重强调了女性赋权与性别平等对于一国长期繁荣的重要意义。