Mathur Ritika Passi

national priorities. However, it must also
be acknowledged that the targets associated
with the goal are extremely ambitious.
Due to the use of phrases like ‘end all forms
of discrimination’ and ‘eliminate all forms
of violence,’ the targets are likely to serve
as lofty ideals that India could strive to
achieve in the next 15 years.
This is not to say that the targets in general
are impossible to achieve. But in order
to do so, the need for adequate financing
must be addressed explicitly. As estimated
by Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development’s GenderNet, 23 in
2012-13 only 5% of total international
aid was dedicated towards the principle
cause of gender equality. Further, the Addis
Ababa Action Agenda adopted at the third
Financing for Development conference in
Ethiopia in July 2015 has received mixed
reactions from women’s rights activists who
feel that, although the major funding gap in
gender was recognised, no specific commitment
was achieved. 24 Therefore, in addition
to relying on traditional funding avenues
of international aid and taxation-oriented
domestic funding, India needs to invest in
gender-responsive budgeting and gender
mainstreaming in design of all projects in
order to maximise the impact of its own resources
towards achieving gender equality. 25
At the same time, in order for India to
measure its progress towards gender equality
relative to the SDG-specific indicators,
its own inability to as of yet measure
gender inequality accurately is a critical
impediment. While target 5.2 dedicated to
eliminating violence against women is a
top national priority, some of the proposed
indicators to measure the progress towards
this target may not be feasible for populous
developing countries like India, at least
under present data-collection mechanisms.
Measuring violence entails several ethical
and methodological issues. One of the
proposed indicators—“prevalence of girls
and women 15-49 who have experienced
physical or sexual violence by an intimate
partner in the last 12 months”—prescribes
surveying all women between a vast age
group over a specific time period. Another
suggested indicator—“percentage of women
and men who report feeling safe walking
alone at night in the city or area where
they live”—may be too vague to quantify
through present data-collection systems.
The use of technology and innovative
gender-sensitive data-collection techniques
are still new to India, but need to be incorporated
at a large scale in the future.
Additionally, the zero draft outcome report
recommends evaluation of progress made
in the implementation of the SDG targets
every four years. 26 While India has long
been collecting data in the form of decadal,
annual and ministry-specific national sample
surveys, it must invest more in the collection
of sex-disaggregated data, 27 which
includes separate data collection and
analysis for men and women. Such analysis
involves qualitative surveys into issues of
ownership and decision-making between
men and women within households; this
can prove essential in assessing India’s
standing vis-à-vis SDG 5 indicators.
The ability to accurately measure progress
against the set indicators would also contribute
in strengthening the accountability
of the SDG agenda. The MDGs lacked in
their focus on monitoring, evaluation and
accountability; 28 the SDGs, in contrast, have
more focus on monitoring and evaluation
but remain unclear on accountability. Given
India’s size and its federal political system,
huge regional variations exist in the country
in terms of demographics and state-specific
legislations. Monitoring efforts and initiatives
can help identify best practices across
the country. But the Indian government is
unlikely to commit to officially reporting to
the UN. Hence, a people-centric mechanism
for monitoring, evaluation, and consequent
accountability is essential to ensure consistent
progress towards the targets.
The post-2015 agenda is inclusive and
ambitious. Its successful implementation
has the potential to transform the world
by 2030. However, its success depends
on learning from the MDG experience as
well as on issues of financing, monitoring,
evaluation and accountability. That said,
the gender SDG can prove to be crucial
in bringing solution-oriented attention to
areas of concern in India, and can be integrated
perfectly within the country’s current
policy environment.
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