The Gender Snapshot 2022

Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): The Gender Snapshot 2022, a UN report, was been made public.

The United Nations Women released it (UN Women).

Summary of the Report

• Gender equality: The research estimates that, at the current rate of development, it will take about 300 years to reach complete gender equality.

Realizing SDG 5:

• It made clear that at the current rate of development, SDG 5, or achieving gender equality, won't be achieved by 2030.
• Global difficulties that affect women: Issues like the COVID-19 epidemic and its aftermath, violent conflict, climate change, and resistance to women's rights to sexual and reproductive health and rights all have an adverse effect on gender gaps.
• In war-affected areas in 2021, over 38% of households with a female head of household faced moderate to severe food insecurity, compared to 20% of households with a male head of household.
• The issue involving Ukraine: The invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing fighting there are exacerbating food insecurity and hunger, particularly among women and children, reducing the availability of gasoline, wheat, and fertiliser, and causing inflation.
• Displacement: By the end of 2021, there will be 44 million women and girls who have been forcefully relocated, more than at any other time in history.
• Women's poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: If current trends continue, more women and girls in Sub-Saharan Africa will be living in extreme poverty by 2030 than they do now.

Legal systems protecting women: Without immediate action, legal systems that do not outlaw violence against women, do not safeguard women's rights in marriage and families, do not guarantee equal pay and benefits at work, and do not ensure equal rights for women to own and control land may endure for generations.

• Women's rights in marriage and family include being barred from inheriting and from being able to pass on their nationality to their offspring.

Laws defending women in leadership

• According to the report, at the current rate of development, it will take up to 286 years to address legal protection gaps, repeal discriminatory laws, and achieve equal representation for women in positions of power and leadership in the workplace.
• Equal participation in national parliaments will likewise take at least 40 years to attain.

Access to abortion for women

• More than 1.2 billion women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 today reside in nations and regions where access to safe abortion is somewhat restricted.

Next steps recommended by the report:

• To completely eradicate child marriage by 2030, progress must be made at a rate 17 times faster than that of the previous decade.
• It is projected that girls living in conflict zones and in the poorest rural households will suffer the most.
• The analysis demonstrates that in order to turn the situation around and put gender equality back on track, collaboration, partnerships, and investments in the cause are crucial. This includes increasing global and national funding.

What should the next step be?

• The data demonstrated indubitable life regressions brought on by the worldwide economic, safety, education, and health issues. It will cost us all more if we wait longer to stop this trend.
• In order to make things better, gender equality must be prioritised because it is the cornerstone of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• The SDGs are under threat due to cascading global crises, which disproportionately affect the world's most vulnerable population groups, particularly women and girls.
• To turn the tide and put gender equality back on track, cooperation, partnerships, and investments are crucial. This includes increasing global and national funding.

Also, Read - 7th Eastern Economic Forum

7th Eastern Economic Forum

The 7th Eastern Economic Forum recently took place in Vladivostok, Russia.

Image Source - The Indian Express

About the meeting

• The 7th Eastern Economic Forum meeting featured a virtual speech from the Indian Prime Minister.

War in Ukraine:

• Supply networks all across the world have been impacted by the turmoil in Ukraine and the Covid epidemic.
• The PM emphasised the necessity to resolve the Ukrainian problem through diplomatic and diplomatic channels.
• Possibilities of India-Russia relations as expressed in the meeting:

Arctic area:

• India is eager to strengthen its cooperation with Russia on Arctic issues.
• The potential for collaboration in the energy sector is enormous.

East Asia:

• India made a pledge to an "Act Far-East" policy public in 2019.
• This policy is a crucial component of a unique and privileged strategic alliance with Russia
• In the areas of pharmaceuticals and diamonds, India has also made large investments in Russia's far east.
• India may collaborate on talent mobility as well. Many resource-rich places of the world have developed as a result of Indian talent.
• Indians' talent and professionalism have the potential to speed up development in the Russian Far East.

Connectivity:

• The development of India and Russia would be significantly influenced by connectivity initiatives like the International North-South Corridor, the Chennai-Vladivostok Maritime Corridor, and the Northern Sea Route.

Supply of coking coal

• Through the provision of coking coal, Russia has the potential to be a significant ally for the Indian steel sector.

Russia-India Relations

Political connections

• The highest level of institutionalised conversation in India and Russia's strategic cooperation occurs during the annual summit between the prime minister of India and the president of the Russian Federation. 20 Annual Summit meetings have already alternated between Russia and India.
• India and Russia have reiterated the need for the UN Security Council to be reformed in order to properly reflect the contemporary global order.
• Russia has always supported India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Financial Relations:

Trade:

• By 2025, both parties amended their goals for bilateral trade and investment to reach $30 billion and $50 billion, respectively.

Joint investment:

• Russia invested 18 billion dollars in India in 2017, while India has invested 13 billion dollars in Russia so far. The investment goal of 30 billion dollars by 2025 has been met.

Technology & Science

• The three primary institutional frameworks for bilateral Science and Technology collaboration are the Working Group on Science and Technology operating under IRIGC-TEC, the Integrated Long Term Programme (ILTP), and the Basic Science Cooperation Programme.

Atomic Energy:

• India is acknowledged by Russia as a nation with cutting-edge nuclear technology and a perfect non-proliferation record. In India, the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) is being constructed with Russian assistance.

Cooperation in Space:

• Both parties work together to develop peaceful uses for space, such as satellite launches, the GLONASS navigation system, remote sensing, and other societal benefits.

Cultural coexistence

• Indian studies have a long history in Russia. JNCC continues to work closely with eminent Russian institutions. Russians are very interested in Indian dance, music, yoga, and Ayurveda.

Eastern Economic Forum

• Every year, the EEF is a global conference held in Vladivostok, Russia.
• To promote the economic growth of Russia's Far East and deepen international ties in the Asia-Pacific region, it was first hosted in September 2015 at Vladivostok's Far Eastern Federal University.
• The Roscongress-appointed organising committee is funding this forum.
• This forum provides a place for the debate on important global economic issues, regional integration, the growth of new industrial and technology sectors, as well as the international difficulties that Russia and other countries are currently facing.

Regarding the Far East

• It is located in Russia's far east.
• It is surrounded by five nations and two oceans, the Pacific and the Arctic (China, Japan, Mongolia, the United States and the DPRK)
• More over a third of the country is comprised of the Far Eastern Federal District.
• It is abundant in natural resources such fish and shellfish, diamonds, stannary, borax materials, 50 gold, and tungsten.
• Here are located around one-third of the nation's coal reserves and hydro-engineering resources.
• 30% of Russia's total forest area is made up of the forests in the region.

International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC)

• An agreement signed by India, Iran, and Russia at the 2000 Euro-Asian Conference on Transport serves as the INSTC's legal foundation.

Aim:

• To more than halve the 40-day transit period and lower the cost of transportation between Russia and India by around 30%.
• The growing Eurasian Free Trade Area is anticipated to be consolidated by the corridor.

Availability & Length:

• It is a 7,200-kilometer-long multimodal transportation corridor that connects Russia and India via Iran and Central Asia.
• It connects the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, and the Caspian Sea before continuing into Northern Europe and Russia.
• It provides the quickest communication path between Russia and India.