Gender equality from the MDGs to the SDGs: a feminist analysis

Abstract

For decades, feminism has driven a gender equality agenda in development policies. Decolonial and intersectional feminisms, for example, have played an anti-racist and anti-colonial agenda. Women’s demands have found different degrees of incorporation into international plans, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this scenario, this work compared gender equality in the MDGs and the SDGs to analyze their advances and challenges in the face of the gender mainstreaming agenda and intersectional and decolonial demands. Documental research was carried out on the objectives, targets, and results of the MDGs and the objectives and targets of the SDGs. The results indicate that the SDGs are more ambitious than the MDGs by adopting a broader and more transversal approach to gender equality. However, there are important gaps in operationalizing an approach to gender inequalities that considers the intersections of different forms of discrimination that affect different groups of women.

Keywords:
gender equality; millennium development goals; sustainable development goals; public policies; gender mainstreaming