Blog 3 - Country focus Denmark

   Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Nordic country in Northwest Europe. Denmark proper, which is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries,consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island. The islands are characterized by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. The southernmost of the Scandinavian nations, Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and is bordered to the south by Germany. The Kingdom of Denmark also includes two autonomous territories in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark has a total area of 42,924 km2 (16,573 sq mi), and the total area including Greenland and the Faroe Islands is 2,210,579 km2 (853,509 sq mi), and a population of 5.8 million in Denmark proper (Statistic Denmark, Dec 2019). 

    Over the last decade, Denmark has emerged as the world’s most progressive country in terms of gender equality, by achieving a near-perfect score in new report released by Equal Measures 2030. Denmark is at the very front of the pack in terms of gender equality, achieving a score of 89.3 out of 100 in the 2019 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Gender Index released by Equal Measures 2030. Overall, Europe and North America are the best performing

regions, with an average regional score of 79.1. That is due in large part to the more advanced economies and greater levels of resources there. However, the report noted that even leading countries have to address a number of outstanding issues such as gender-based violence, poverty and women’s participation in the economy, in order to reach the last mile (Equal measures 2030, 2019).

Retrieved from https://data.em2030.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/EM2030_2019_Global_Report_ENG.pdf 

 The top ranking is because Denmark, unlike many other countries, is a good place to make a career as a woman, In Denmark there is a good opportunity for women to be in the labor market because we have kindergartens and nurseries, so mothers do not have to go home and look after children. Most parts of the world this is not the case and the further you go away from central Europe the more this becomes a reality. And while Denmark is still not quite in goal, there is a "positive mentality" about equality in Denmark. It goes without saying that

women can have a career and that men must participate well in childcare. Denmark is among the only 21 out of 129 countries on the list to score more than 80 points (Fruergaard, Oliver, June 2019). As the chart below shows Denmark has the highest percentage of working mothers in the world. 

   The Danish government has, in accordance with the 2030 Agenda, formulated the Action Plan in light of the need to adapt targets to national circumstances. The Action Plan is centered on the 5 P’s of prosperity, people, planet, peace and partnership. For each of these – except partnerships which are cross cutting – the government has formulated a number of targets (37 in total). They reflect the government’s wish to prioritize building on existing positions of strength as well as on areas where improvement is needed. Each target has one or two national indicators, which are in large part measurable and quantifiable. The public funding for research is at 1 percent of GDP. People also strengthen gender equality between boys and girls in education by reduced gender differences in well-being and grades. According to the Transparency International rankings, Denmark is among least corrupt countries in the world.

The government already assesses the economic, environmental and gender consequence of new legislation. As part of the Action Plan the government will hence-forth also assess the consequences of new legislation and major initiatives for the SDGs, when considered relevant in a Danish context and where the impact is significant. The government of Denmark also presents an annual progress report on the Action Plan to Parliament as well as a quadrennial status report on the Action Plan to be discussed in Parliament. The Danish statistical bureau also commits to produce a yearly statistical report to be sent to the UN as an input to the global progress report (Voluntary National Review, 2017).

   Despite Denmark being at the top of the world in gender equality, the government has admitted that it will not achieve the sustainable development goal 2030, but will make every effort to implement it.   

References:

Statistic Denmark, Dec 2019. Population at the first day of the quarter by region, sex, age (5 years age groups), ancestry and country of origin. Retrieved from https://www.statbank.dk/FOLK1c

Equal measures 2030, 2019.HARNESSING THE POWER OF DATA FOR GENDER EQUALITY. Retrieved from https://data.em2030.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/EM2030_2019_Global_Report_ENG.pdf

Fruergaard, Oliver, June 2019.Denmark takes first place in equality - but there is still a long way to go. Retrieved from https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/udland/danmark-tager-foerstepladsen-i-ligestilling-men-der-er-stadig-lang-vej-endnu

Voluntary National Review, 2017.GOVERNMENT FOLLOW-UP ON THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALSNATIONAL FOLLOW-UP. Retrieved from          https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/memberstates/denmark

Blog 2 - Country Focus Japan

    The Nation of Japan is an island country located in South East Asia. It spans approximately 1900 miles between the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean.Japan is made up of five main islands namely Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Okinawa, which make up about 97% of the total area of 145,000 square miles. Japan was one of the Axis nations that fought against the United States and the Allied Nations in World War 2. After Japan was defeated in the war, the US drafted the Japanese Constitution that provided a legal framework that paved the way for women’s equality and advancement. Some of the provisions included giving women the right to vote, giving women greater freedoms,enshrining womens equity to men and also giving women a higher status within the Japanese society (Soble, Jonathan, 2015).

    Despite being a member of the G7  most advanced Nations, Japan has high levels of gender inequality. Its Gender Inequality Index rank was 19th on the 2019 report, which is relatively low for developed nations. One of the reasons for this difference between income and gender inequality is because of the deep-rooted gender norms in the Japanese society. Gender-based inequality is in several areas of Japanese society, from family to political representation, and occurs largely as a result of the different gender roles in traditional and modern Japanese society (Human Development Reports, 2020).

   Japan has various strategies to implement Sustainable Development Goals for women empowerment and gender equality. Firstly, the government set up a framework for the promotion of gender equality. This framework is a national machinery for the promotion of the formation of a Gender-Equal Society. The central government established the Council for Gender Equality and the Gender Equality Bureau. Both were formed at the cabinet level and were headed at the top most level by the Prime Minister. Below is the structure for the promotion of gender-equal society.

Source :http://www.gender.go.jp/english_contents/pr_act/pub/pamphlet/women-and-men19/pdf/3-1.pdf

   Secondly, the government set up The Basic Act for a Gender Equal Society which was enacted on 23 June, 1999.This act laid out the five pillars or basic principles that would be used in the formation of a gender-equal society. It also set out and stipulated the roles of the public administration, which included both the national and local governments, and citizens. Below are the Five Pillars in regard to the Formation of a Gender Equal Society.

Source: http://www.gender.go.jp/english_contents/pr_act/pub/pamphlet/women-and-men19/pdf/3-2.pdf

   Building from the lessons learnt from the Basic Act for a Gender Equal Society, the Japanese government enacted a bold new plan to met its Sustainable Development Goals for women empowerment and gender equality. The new plan was labelled The Fourth Basic Plan for Gender Equality. The Fourth Basic Plan for Gender Equality was formulated in 2015, and set the basic direction of governmental policies and specific measures to be adopted to foster gender equality in a comprehensive and planned manner. The main focus of this plan was on labor reforms, women’s recruitment and empowerment, support to women faced with difficult situations, and enhanced measures to combat violence against women (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women examines reports of Japan, n.d.).Below are some of the targets set out in the plan. 

Source :http://www.gender.go.jp/english_contents/pr_act/pub/pamphlet/women-and-men19/pdf/3-3.pdf

   The government of Japan has a long-term commitment to achieving the goals of Sustainable Development Goals for women empowerment and gender equality. This plan has the full backing of the cabinet of Japan and the full commitment of the Prime Minister of Japan. According to Goldman Sachs, raising women’s labor participation rate will boost Japans economy by as much as 13% (Impact of Raising Women's Labor Participation Rate, 2014). 

Source: http://www.gender.go.jp/english_contents/pr_act/pub/pamphlet/women-and-men19/pdf/3-3.pdf

  While responding to the stagnancy of the Japanese economy, Japanese Prime Minister Abe announced an initiative that he coined ‘Womenomics’. This new initiative was a set of policies that was meant to increase women's participation in the labor force, which in turn would enhance encourage women's economic advancement (Stewart 2015; Abe 2013). The dimensions of climate change and poverty in regards to gender is always usually closely related. It is viewed that climate-related risks potentially exacerbate the existing poverty and entrenched inequality (Skinner 2011). The poverty rate of women in Japan is higher than that of men in all age groups. According to the report of an explorative survey in private enterprises by the National Tax Agency in 2006, women earned 50 percent less than men per annum (Akaishi 2009, pp. 3-4).

Japan realizes that it lags behind among developed nations in gender equality. Fortunately, the government is serious in bridging this gap and has made actionable steps to address this imbalance.

References:

Soble, Jonathan, January ,2015. "To Rescue Economy, Japan Turns to Supermom". The New York Times. Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/02/business/international/in-economic-revival-effort-japan-turns-to-its-women.html

Human Development Reports, United Nations Development Program, 2017. Retrieved from hdr.undp.org/en/composite/GII

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women examines reports of Japan,(n.d.).Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=17052&LangID=E

Abe, S., 2013, "Unleashing the Power of 'Womenomics," Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition, New York. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.flinders.edu.au:2067/docview/1436533628/8A7EFED057D74B0BPQ/47?accountid=10910

Stewart, D., 2015, "Abenomics meets womenomics: Transforming the Japanese workplace," Foreign Affairs. Retrieved from   https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/northeast-asia/2015-01-29/abenomics-meets-womenomics

Skinner, E., 2011, Gender and climate change: Overview report, The Institute of Development Studies.

Akaishi, C., 2009, "Women and poverty," Japan NGO Report 2009 for Beijing +15, Japan Women's Watch.

Gender Equality

  Gender equality is ensuring that all people, regardless of their gender, are able to access all available opportunities and resources. Furthermore, everyone should be able to seek social, political and economic benefits that a society has to offer without being discriminated against due to one’s gender. Women’s and girls’ empowerment are the deliberate and proactive actions of enabling them to participate in the decision-making process that they had no prior access to. In recent years we have seen that some areas of gender equality are moving in the right direction and showing some positive indicators. For example, there has been a decline in female genital mutilation and in early age marriages. Unfortunately, most other indicators show little or no progress and as a result are undermining the Sustainable Development Goal 5. Areas such as legal discrimination, unwillingness of the political class to participate, lack of decision making on women’s reproductive health and negative attitudes and social norms are some of the structural challenges facing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 5(Sustainable Development Goal 5,2019).

Source: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2019/progress-on-the-sdgs-the-gender-snapshot-2019-single-pages-en.pdf?la=en&vs=5813

      Traditionally the focus has always been on women to achieve gender equality since it is usually created by unequal power dynamics between men and women. However, when we make efforts to include men into the discussion there is a possibility of greater success. This shift in dynamics will encourage behavior change in men by engaging them as allies and therefore giving us a better chance to make progress on Sustainable Development Goal 5(Amaya, Schroder, Medrano & Geertz, 2019).

Blog 1: Country Focus Rwanda

Rwanda is a small, landlocked, Central African country with a population of roughly 12 Million people and an area of about 26,000 square kilometers. In 1994, the country was involved in one of the most egregious genocides in modern history with one million people slaughtered in less than 100 days. For several years post the war, Rwanda was considered a failed state but today it is one of the most successful countries in Africa and ranks in the top 5 countries in the world in gender empowerment (Warner,Gregory,NPR,2018).

    The Millennium Development Goals 2000 were very crucial to Rwanda as it served as a foundation and a development guide that helped the post war reconstruction of the country. Rwanda was very successful in implementing the Millennium Development Goals 2000 as they integrated it into their national development plan. Consequently, Rwanda gained valuable experience to move to the Sustainable Development Goals 2015 (SDGs) which were more comprehensive and detailed in nature (Bhowmick, Soumya, 2019).

     The implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals 2015 (SDGs)was propelled further in 2016 when the SDG Center for Africa was established in Rwanda’s capital Kigali. However, there still remains several challenges in implementing SDGs. Firstly, at the grassroots level there remains a huge knowledge gap regarding the implementation of the sustainability goals. This is concerning as there is an inability to monitor progress or relay information. To counter this the government is relying on the youth through the availability of digital devices to mitigate this. 

    Secondly the capacity to accurately are efficiently measure development has been a key implementation hindrance. The government has invested hug sums of money to build Information technology centers focused on data management and analytics. Implementation of SDGs is a very resource intensive exercise. Rwanda is still a low-income nation and therefore there are major financial gaps in the implementation of SDGs. Rwanda has focused on mobilizing the private sector in public/private partnerships. This is especially valuable for investors thinking of long-term gains. As part of the long-term goal plan for gender equality, Rwanda passed a new constitution that guarantees female representation of 30% in all government decision making organs including the legislature. This is one of the few countries that have actually enacted laws that favor gender equality. As a consequence, 64% of all legislative seats in the lower chamber of parliament are held by women.

Rwanda continues to be a benchmark example of progress not only for the rest of Africa, but also other developing nations in the world. 

References :

Amaya,L.,Schroder,C., Medrano,S. & Geertz,A.,March 11,2019.Gender Equality is Not Just a Women’s Issue.Retrieved from: https://www.fsg.org/blog/gender-equality-not-just-women%E2%80%99s-issue.

Sustainable Development Goal 5, 2019. Retrieved from  https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg5

Warner,Gregory/NPR,2018.Rwanda Ranks In The Top 5 For Gender Equity. Do Its Teen Girls Agree?. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/01/10/577018509/rwanda-ranks-in-the-top-5-for-gender-equity-do-its-teen-girls-agree

Bhowmick,Soumya, May 17, 2019.Toward the SDGs: The Rwanda story. Retrieved from https://www.orfonline.org/research/toward-the-sdgs-the-rwanda-story-50935/