Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25

Mainstreaming Gender Perspectives in the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs):A Study on Selected 2017 Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs)* Yukiko ODA
1.

Introduction
This study aims to identify ways for gender perspectives to be integrated into thenational implementation process of Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) adopted at the United Nations Summit on
Sustainable Development in September 2015. The 2030 Agenda is a global plan of actions
for the year of 2030 to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies and transform the world tobe sustainable and resilient with the meaningful participation of stakeholders, while leaving
no one behind as a principle.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which arecomposed of 17 goals and 169 targets as well as 232 indicators for follow-up and review, arethe core of the 2030 Agenda, although sometimes the SDGs is interchangeably used with the2030 Agenda.
In terms of gender equality, the 2030 Agenda recognizes that gender inequality remains,
and the gender disparities of opportunity, wealth and power are a global challenge. The
2030 Agenda articulates the importance of this issue in three ways. First, in paragraphtwenty of the Declaration of the 2030 Agenda, it is stated that “Realizing gender equality andthe empowerment of women and girls will make a crucial contribution to progress across all
the Goals and targets” and “The systematic mainstreaming of a gender perspective in theimplementation of the Agenda is crucial.” Secondly, the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda has Goal 5,which is a stand-alone goal on gender equality and empowerment of women and girls(GE&EWG). Under Goal 5, nine targets are identified to achieve it. Thirdly, according to
the recognition of the crucial role of mainstreaming of a gender perspective throughout the2030 Agenda, gender related language is referred to in several targets other than Goal 5; such
as Goal 1 (poverty), Goal 2 (food and nutrition), Goal 4 (education), Goal 6 (water andsanitation), Goal 8 (economy and employment), Goal 11 (cities) and Goal 13 (climate change).
In addition, more goals and targets contain indicators with gender related terms.
As indicated in the Global Gender Gap Report 2018, Japan lags far behind the world interms of gender parity. According to the Global Gender Gap Index of the Report, Japanranks as low as 110 out of 149 nations. Thus, achieving gender equality is an urgently
required task for Japan.

The implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs is an

opportunity for Japan to accelerate the narrowing of gender gaps. In other words, without
realizing gender equality and empowerment of women and girls, the 2030 Agenda cannot be
achieved in Japan.

* Vice Convener, JAWW (Japan Women’s Watch)
1

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25

2.

Methodology
This study references 13 out of 43 voluntary national reviews (VNRs) submitted to andpresented at the UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) held in July of 2017. The HLPF, anofficial follow-up and review mechanism for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is held
every year under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The 13 VNRs include reviews from seven European Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development and Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC)
member countries, including Japan, and six other Asian countries. The seven OECD/DAC
member countries are selected because they are similar in position to Japan as donor
countries of development assistance. Unlike the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a
predecessor of SDGs, universality is a norm of SDGs, thus, international cooperation isimportant for the global achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

Furthermore, as the EU

OECD/DAC countries are positioned at a higher rank on the Global Gender Gap Index thanJapan, it is expected that the experiences of the EU OECD/DAC countries will provide Japan
with a clue to promote gender equality. The six Asian countries were selected because ofgeographical and relational proximity to Japan.
The 13 countries analyzed in this study are shown as below with their 2017 Global
Gender Gap Index rank enclosed in parentheses: Japan (114), Belgium (31), Denmark (14),Italy (82), the Netherlands (32), Portugal (33) and Sweden (5) from OECD/DAC member
countries and Bangladesh (47), India (108), Indonesia (84), Malaysia (104), Nepal (111) and
Thailand (75) from Asian countries.
This study uses six analytical criteria with a special focus on gender equality andempowerment of women and girls referring to the Synthesis of Voluntary National Reviews

2017 (Synthesis 2017) by the Division for Sustainable Development (DSD), Department of
Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) of UN ECOSOC. Although the Synthesis 2017 covers
all 43 VNRs submitted in 2017 and provides a useful overview and trends, its analytical

criteria do not include criteria on gender, except Goal 5. Thus, it is difficult to find how a
VNR addressed gender equality and mainstreaming of gender perspectives. The analytical

criteria of Synthesis 2017 are as follows: goals and targets, leaving no one behind, monitoringand data, bringing the SDGs into the national context, institutions, coherence with regionaland global frameworks, stakeholder engagement, awareness-raising and means of
implementation.
The six gender-focused analytical criteria for this study are:(1) Priorities of GE&EWG in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda(2) Present situation of gender equality, achievements and challenges(3) Mainstreaming of a gender perspective(4) Gender in “Leaving no one behind”(5) Stakeholder engagement and GE&EWG(6) GE&EWG in international development cooperation
2

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25

There are limitations to using the 2017 VNRs as a source of analysis due to three reasons.
First, the VNR is an official review submitted by the State to the UN. Although the 2030
Agenda encourages governments to consult with stakeholders during the reviewing processes,
the final decision lies with a government. Secondly, the review covers only one year after thelaunching of 2030 Agenda that started in January 2016. Thus, it is too early to identify theachievements and challenges of the 2030 Agenda. Thirdly, the contents, volume and forms of
VNR are diverse due to the report’s voluntary nature. This makes comparison among the
VNRs difficult. Despite these limitations, the study’s analysis of VNRs with special focus ongender is unique. Each VNR provides rich information on efforts towards the implementingof the 2030 Agenda, including challenges, gaps and lessons learned.

3.

The implementation of the 2030 Agenda in JapanIn May of 2016, Japanese Government established the SDGs Promotion Headquarters,

headed by the Prime Minister and comprised of all ministers to promote implementation of
the 2030 Agenda. Then, in September 2016, the government set up a roundtable meeting
composed of 14 members from a wide range of stakeholders, including NGO/NPO/CSOs,
private sectors, academia and international organizations. Out of fourteen members, there
are three representatives from civil society and four female members (29%) across all
stakeholders. The roundtable meetings have been held occasionally since then.
In December of 2016, the government adopted the SDGs Implementation Guiding
Principles (Guiding Principles), which represent Japan’s national vision and strategy for the
implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Based on the Guiding Principles, the SDGs Action Plan
for 2018 was adopted by the Cabinet and that for 2019 followed.
In the Guiding Principles, Japan’s vision is to “become a leader toward a future where
economic, social and environmental improvements are attained in an integrated, sustainable
and resilient manner while leaving no one behind.” The Guiding Principles are annexedwith concrete policy measures, which are only current but not new policies.
The Guiding Principles identified eight priority areas and restructured the goals andtargets of the SDGs in light of Japan’s national context.
Chart 1. Priority areas and related SDGs
Priority areas

Related SDGs

(1) Empowerment of All People

1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12(2) Achievement of Good Health and Longevity

3(3) Creating Growth Markets, Revitalization of Rural Areas, and2, 8, 9, 11

Promoting Science Technology and Innovation Technology andInnovation(4) Sustainable and Resilient Land Use, Promoting Quality
Infrastructure
32, 6, 9, 11

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25(5) Energy Conservation, Renewable Energy, Climate Change

7, 12, 13Countermeasures, and Sound Material-Cycle Society(6) Conservation of Environment, including Biodiversity, Forests

2, 3, 14, 15

and the Oceans(7) Achieving Peaceful, Safe and Secure Societies(8) Strengthening

the

Means

and

Frameworks

16
for

the

17

Implementation of the SDGs

4.

Gender in the Guiding Principles and Japan’s VNR
The Guiding Principles as well as Japan’s VNR recognize gender inequality as achallenge by quoting data from the Bertelsmann Foundation of Germany and the Sustainable
Development Solution Network, but not by quoting its own data.

Although the tone ofstatement is a little diplomatic, the Guiding Principles state that gender equality andmainstreaming a gender perspective are a universally accepted, have cross-sectorial value
and are indispensable in attaining all goals.

In addition, they not only recognize thatwell-developed gender statistics for the advancement of gender equality and mainstreaming agender perspective is important but also pledge to make efforts to collect genderdisaggregated data as much as possible. In this way, the Guiding Principles regards genderequality and mainstreaming a gender perspective as essential for the implementation of the2030 Agenda.
Despite the aforementioned recognition, questions remain about its real implementation
because Goal 5 is included as one of six goals under the Priority area 1, namely,
Empowerment of All People. Considering there are eight priority areas and that Priority
area 1 embraces six goals, it can be calculated that Goal 5 is merely 1/48 of the efforts for theachievement of SDGs in Japan. In fact, this Goal 5’s position is still far away from thestatement that says gender equality and mainstreaming a gender perspective are“indispensable in attaining all goals”. Furthermore, neither gender nor women are referred
to in the other seven priority areas. One cannot help questioning whether Japan’s stance ongender equality and mainstreaming a gender perspective are merely just statements. While
Japan’s VNR focuses on women in the workforce in Japan’s aging society, whose labor
shortage hinders severely economic prosperity, it reluctantly acknowledges gender inequality
as a challenge by introducing the data from foreign organizations.
As Japan’s VNR’s structure follows that of the Guiding Principles, Goal 5’s statement
volume in the VNR is 1/48 and the enthusiasm to promote gender equality is likely as weak as
one 1/48. Even the word “gender” appears much less frequently than “women” especially interms of domestic measures, suggesting more emphasis is given to women rather than togender equality in Japan’s VNR. Even the subtitle of “Promote gender equality and women's
empowerment” seems to be nominal.
Although Japan’s VNR briefly touches upon the problems about the low proportion of4

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25

women in leadership positions and insufficient efforts to prevent harassment related topregnancy and childbearing, but not sexual harassment at work, the VNR mainly describes
the measures to support companies for women’s empowerment.

Such measures as"Supporting Tools for Establishment of General Business Owner Action Plans" which allows
companies to formulate their own action plans toward their female workers’ empowerment,and "Database of Companies Promoting Women’s Participation and Advancement" which
officially publishes companies’ information and action plans on women’s empowerment on theJapanese government’s webpage, are highlighted as good examples.

And Japan’s VNR

proudly declares that 99.9% of large companies (with 301 or more employees) formulated
action plans as a result of these measures. But the action plans do not necessarily promiseachievements.
In addition, the issues related to women’s labor participation are also mentioned under
the subsection of Working-style Reform in the Priority area 1 in Japan’s VNR. While womenas a part of society are expected to play active roles in all places including the workplace, athome and the local community, the VNR perceives that women consciously choose
non-regular work to reconcile the responsibilities of childcare and nursing. The VNR admits
the wage differences between non-regular and regular work is larger in Japan than otherdeveloped countries. At the same time, the VNR makes no reference to a persistent gendernorm that tacitly calls for women to shoulder the care responsibility. Without changing thegender norm, women continue to bear the dual burdens of domestic chores and work forearning with less pay.
Likewise, mainstreaming a gender perspective has not materialized.

Although the

Guiding Principles and Japan’s VNR acknowledge mainstreaming as crucial, the statementon the violence against children in Priority area 7 - Achieving Peaceful, Safe and Secure
Societies, girls, who are the most vulnerable on gender-based violence, for example, are notmentioned. In addition, the Japanese VNR regarding gender-based violence only states that
it is CSOs who have been working to eliminate it.

This gives the impression that the

government is indifferent, and no policies and measures are being taken to reduce
gender-based violence, even though the Act on the Prevention of Spousal Violence and theProtection of Victims exists. These examples show that a gender perspective is not truly
mainstreamed in the Japanese Guiding Principles and VNR.
Regarding international cooperation, Japan’s VNR shows more positive commitments
than domestic efforts towards the promotion of women’s empowerment and themainstreaming of a gender perspective. Based on the "Development Strategy for Gender
Equality and Women's Empowerment" adopted in 2016, the VNR outlines not only a concrete
budget for a designated period but also uses language concerning gender and/or womenappear in various goals, such as Goal 3 Health and Goal 6 Water and sanitation in addition to
Goal 5. However, Japan’s VNR again focuses more on women’s empowerment but not on
gender equality. This is different from the focus of EU OECD/DAC countries.

5

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25

5.

Analysis
The major findings of the 13 VNRs according to the six frameworks are as below. They

are full of interesting cases but not promising in terms of gender mainstreaming.
(1) Priorities of GE&EWG in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda
The majority of VNRs emphasize gender equality and empowerment of women and girls
as a core principle in promoting the 2030 Agenda. Almost all VNRs state that in theirstrategies for implementing the 2030 Agenda and SDGs, they prioritize the GE&EWG.
However, the way of expression varies. For example, Portugal’s VNR emphasizes “[T]hegender equality dimension should therefore be taken into account whenever any public policy
is devised and carried out….” Another example is in the Foreword of Malaysia’s VNR. There,
the Prime Minister stated, “Malaysia has consistently shown its commitment to achieving
gender equality and promoting the rights of women and girls.” The other expression ofcommitment to gender equality is the use of symbolic words, such as, ‘gender diplomacy’ of
The Netherlands and ‘feminist policies’ of Sweden. By using this kind of language, thesecountries demonstrate their priorities.
In addition, many countries introduced laws, policies and programs as a legal andpolitical basis of promoting gender equality together with the advancement of 2030 Agenda.
Some examples are the Gender Equality Act 2015 of Thailand, the National Women
Development Policy of Bangladesh, the National Plan for Gender Equality of Portugal andthe Federal Plan for the Execution of Gender Mainstreaming of Belgium. Japan’s VNR
regrettably does not touch upon the Basic Act for Gender Equal Society and Basic Plan for
Gender Equality, but it introduces the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation andAdvancement in the Workplace by reflecting on the government’s emphasis on women’s labor
participation in the workforce.
Institutionally diverse ministries play a key role in promoting the 2030 Agenda in eachcountry, but none of them is the one that in charge of promoting gender equality.
Furthermore, no relationship between the ministries in charge of promoting the 2030 Agenda
and the way of promoting gender equality was observed among the 13 VNR countries. Thatis, the commitment to gender equality is not affected by whether Ministry of Foreign Affairs
or other Ministries coordinate the implementation of 2030 Agenda nationally. Rather, it isstrong political will at the top versus action at the ministerial level that promotes genderequality.
(2) Present situation of gender equality, achievements and challenges
To explain the present situation, achievements and challenges for gender equality,
diverse issues, such as, economic power, leadership and decision-making, unpaid care work,
gender-based violence, education, health and gender norm, are referred in the VNRs. The
following are some excerpts.
i)

Economic power
6

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25

Although the level of inequality varies by countries, almost of all VNRs refer to genderinequality in the economic domain, namely, the gender gap related to labour participation,
income, employment opportunity and promotion or leadership positions.

Among theseinequalities, women’s concentration on part time work and low employment position are often
attributed to women’s lower income and identified as a challenge especially among EU
OECD/DAC countries, such as Sweden and The Netherlands.

On the other hand, theincrease in labour participation rate was highlighted as an indicator of progress in some
Asian countries. A notable example is Bangladesh, which while acknowledging women’s
financial inclusion as the driving force of its rural economic and social development, connects
women’s economic empowerment to national development.
The view on part time work is dichotomized. On one hand, such countries like Malaysia
and Japan see it as an opportunity for women by making domestic responsibility compatible
with paid work. On the other hand, Sweden and The Netherlands see it as the cause ofincome disparity. Regardless of whether part time work is viewed positively or negatively,
many VNRs foresee that part time work and irregular jobs will increase due to the progress ofthe fourth industrial revolution and/or digital economy, implying that integration of a gender
perspective in digitalization is urgently required.
ii)

Women in leadership and decision-making position

Many VNRs refer to the percentage of women in leadership positions in the economic
domain.

Although the percentage is similar-about 20 to 30%, some countries, such as

Malaysia and Nepal, see this as an achievement. Alternatively, others like The Netherlands,
sees this percentage as insufficient and promote a campaign to increase the number of womenin leadership positions in cooperation with the business sector. Another interesting example
is found in Bangladesh. There the Union Digital Centres (UDCs), one-stop information andservice delivery outlets, were set up in all Union Councils, the lowest tier of the local
government. And a pair of citizen entrepreneurs-one male and one female, run the UDCs toserve the underserved population, such as rural women and people with disabilities.
Most VNRs use the percentage of women in parliament to show gender parity anddisparity in decision-making and leadership positions in political arena. Bangladesh, again,
is a champion in this regard. As the Speaker of the Parliament, the Leader of the House, theLeader of the opposition, the Deputy Leader of the House are all women, Bangladesh is highly
ranked in terms of the Global Gender Gap’s political empowerment score.

Anotherinteresting case is reported by Nepal in which the cooperative sector contributes to theadvancement of gender equality. Namely, more than a half of cooperative members are
women and 50% of decision-making positions of the cooperative sector is shared by women.
These examples show that fantastic measures are being taken towards gender parity in theworld.
iii)

Unpaid care work

Many VNRs state that Target 5.4 of SDG Goal 5 - “to recognize and value unpaid care7

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25

and domestic work and to share responsibility within the household and the family,” is achallenge. Several countries, such as Belgium, Portugal, Thailand connect this challengewith persistent gendered norms and practice. Other countries, for example India, expressed
their willingness to start conducting a use of time survey. Japan, which attributes this issue
to long working hours widely practiced in the society, proposes working-style reform as asolution to enable more men take care work at home. Given the firm and persistent genderdivision of labor in Japan, it is uncertain if working-style reform alone is enough to change
the prevailing practice toward the sharing of care work.
iv)

Violence against women (VAW)/ Gender based violence (GBV)VAW and or GBV are commonly acknowledged as challenges in both EU and Asian VNRs.
Indonesia uniquely conducted an interview survey on VAW of 9,000 households at thenational level and the survey results were reported in the VNR. About the form of violence,some VNRs point to online violence against women and girls as emerging issues in the new
era of digital economies in addition to the persistent forms of VAW/GBV of domestic violenceand human trafficking. Several VNRs specified those who need special consideration indesigning and implementing measures against VAW/GBV, such as young women, LGBTI
people and victims of sexual violence. As the SDGs’ global indicators on VAW are included in
the Goal 11 and Goal 16 of SDGs, in addition to Goal 5, the issue of VAW/GBV is possibly
addressed in these goals and other SDGs throughout their implementation processes.
It was found that the use VAW or GBV terms is not always mentioned in connection with
LGBTQI people in the VNRs. Some countries use GBV instead of VAW but do refer to LGBT
people in its VNR. The countries that include this kind of language, such as LGBT, LGBTI,LGBTQ and SOGI in their VNRs are six out of thirteen VNRs. This six includes one Asian
country, Nepal, suggesting that recognition and acceptance of this issue is spreading globally.
Generally, health and education are regarded as an issue for international development
in OECD/DAC countries. Alternatively, they are the indicators of achievement of gender
parity in most Asian countries. When discussing gender in health, statements in the VNRs
tend to concentrate on maternal and child health, but not on a gender perspective in thewhole health sector. Some Asian VNRs use the language of sexual and reproductive healthwithout mentioning rights, whereas OECD/DAC’s VNRs emphasize sexual and reproductive
health rights (SRHR), especially in international cooperation.
(3) Mainstreaming of a gender perspective
Although the 2030 Agenda highlights mainstreaming of a gender perspective as crucial to
implementation, this language is not necessarily present in many VNRs. It is only six VNRs
that include this expression. Four of the six, including Portugal, put it at the core of 2030
Agenda’s implementation. Japan is one of the six countries, but it only quotes this language
without substantial measures to carry it out.
Gender responsive budgeting is often used as a tool for gender mainstreaming. Amongthe thirteen VNRs, six refer to gender budgeting or gender responsive budgeting, including8

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25

three Asian VNRs. Half of the six VNRs refer to gender budgeting as a tool of gendermainstreaming but others do not. Either related to the 2030 Agenda or based on other legal
frameworks, such as the constitution, the six countries introduce gender responsive
budgeting in practice under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance or an equivalentinstitution. This suggests involvement of a financial institution is important.
The other aspect of mainstreaming of a gender perspective is to integrate a gender
perspective in all SDG goals and targets. Despite the statement of the 2030 Agenda on themainstreaming, not many VNRs refer to gender or women in SDG goals other than Goal 5 ongender equality and empowerment of women and girls. This indicates that gender equality
is not actually positioned at the core of actions for the 2030 Agenda.
Sweden’ VNR most widely refers to gender in eleven out of seventeen SDG goals. But
even this most mainstreamed VNR barely integrates gender in its environmental goals. In
fact, environmental areas are the least gender mainstreamed. A few exceptional examples ofgender mainstreaming in the goals other than Goal 5 are the inclusion of a gender perspectivein the flexible labor market along with the introduction of the digital economy and public
transportation in Belgium’s and Portugal’s VNR respectively.

Although many VNRs

mention the fourth industrial revolution and digital economy as a direction forward, gender
gaps in access to and obtaining skills on digital technology are rarely addressed. Likewise, theissues of youth unemployment, migrants, trafficking in persons and child pornography areoften pointed out as problems in VNRs, but a gender perspective is absent. In this way, gendermainstreaming is sporadic and not yet systematically integrated in VNRs as was required by
the 2030 Agenda.

(4) Gender in “Leaving no one behind”“Leaving no one behind” is a principle of the 2030 Agenda. Those who are at risk ofbeing left behind are identified in most VNRs. People with disabilities, ethnic minorities,
the less educated, migrants, single women with small children, LGBTQI people, sex workers
and those with multiple disadvantages are identified in the OECD/DAC’s VNRs except Japan.
The poor, people with disabilities and the elderly are often mentioned in the VNRs of Asian
countries, but the gender dimension is not expressly stated in Asian VNRs.
It is worthy of note that Bangladesh’s VNR identifies those who are far from digitaltechnologies as the vulnerable, while the country pursues ‘Digital Bangladesh’ as a strategy ofnational development. As was introduced above, the assignment of a male and a female
entrepreneur respectively to run the UDCs is one of the measures taken by Bangladesh
towards the “Leaving no one behind” with clear inclusion of gender perspectives.
Bangladesh’s integration of a gender perspective in digitalization provides Japan with a hint
as to how it can promote digitalization called Society 5.0 through SDGs implementation.

9

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25(5) Stakeholder engagement and GE&EWG
In terms of stakeholders’ participation, almost all VNRs state that the government
consulted with stakeholders, including civil society organizations and women’s groups duringin the drafting process of VNRs. Some governments institutionalized consultations withstakeholders. However, it is not clearly articulated whether the stakeholders’ participation
contributed to the promotion of gender equality and to the mainstreaming of a gender
perspective.

(6) GE&EWG in international development cooperation
In the field of development cooperation, most EU and OECD/DAC countries, emphasize
how actively they promote gender equality and the rights of women and girls throughdevelopment cooperation.

Some EU countries especially promote strongly sexual andreproductive health and rights (SRHR) and the rights of LGBTQI people, as well as theprevention of gender-based violence through their development assistance. One advanced
example is the Belgian VNRs that introduces a new attempt to use a mobile application togather evidence and safely store it in the ‘cloud’ to fight against impunity following sexual
violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Japanese VNR narrowly
focuses on women’s economic empowerment rather than the promotion of gender equality in awhole society.
Compared to OECD/DAC countries that promote gender equality through development
cooperation, Asian countries, as recipients of development assistance, rarely express how
outside development assistance is important to the advancement of gender equality andwomen’s empowerment at home. Furthermore, Asian countries as donors, do mention someareas like poverty reduction and environmental protection as an area of their contribution
and also often refer to internationally agreed frameworks such as Addis Ababa Action Agenda
adopted at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development. However,they do not mention gender equality nor women’s empowerment in their development
assistance. It seems GE&EWG is not emphasized in Asia’s development cooperation.

6.

Conclusion
The 2030 Agenda and SDGs provide a new opportunity to address and advance

GE&EWG by prioritizing it in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The regular review
and monitoring of the 2030 Agenda’s achievements through the VNRs and the HLPF alsoenhances the accountability and transparency toward achieving gender equality. As wasintroduced in this study, the most positive aspect of VNRs is the demonstration of rich andvarious efforts and measures taken by governments and other stakeholders.
This study, however, revealed that the mainstreaming of a gender perspective is not yet
truly realized.

It remains a challenge because most VNRs refer gender issues only in10

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25

relation to the SDG Goal 5. Especially, the lack of gender perspectives in environmental
goals is a serious problem, considering that the 2030 Agenda emphasizes environmental
sustainability as one of its core values for 2030. In this regard, EU OECD/DAC countries are
no exception. More efforts need to be made to integrate gender perspectives into all SDG
goals.
Among Asian nations, where some progressive measures for gender mainstreaming are
observed, one common aspect in the observed countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal is theadvancement of women’s decision-making position both at the national level and at thegrassroots level.

The two countries have a mechanism to ensure gender parity indecision-making like the assignment of a male and a female entrepreneur at UDCs in
Bangladesh and Nepal’s half of 6 million members including those in leadership positions in
the cooperative sector who are women.

These good examples suggest that gendermainstreaming can be promoted along with measures to bring about gender parity indecision-making.
Another important point is data collection as was demonstrated in Indonesia andMalaysia on VAW and SRH respectively. In fact, man y VNRs included their own statistical
data to contrary to Japan’s VNR that only quoted data from a study by foreign organizations
to admit the existence of gender inequality.

Data is highly related to global indicators.

Therefore, collecting and utilizing gender disaggregated data is a basis for implementationand monitoring.
This study found the following six points are significant especially for Japan to promote
the gender equality through the 2030 Agenda and SDGs.
(1) To re-organize the SDGs Guiding Principles by making gender equality a stand-alone
area and connecting it to existing legal and political frameworks for gender equality.
(2) To cover such problems as harassment at work, gender parity in decision-making,
VAW/GBV, unpaid care work and the changes in gender norms in the Guiding
Principles and the VNR other than narrowly focusing on women’s participation in
the labor market.
(3) To integrate a gender perspective in all priority areas, especially as related to Society
5.0, which is one of Japanese government’s major strategies for the 2030 Agenda andSDGs implementation.
(4) To identify and pay special attention to those who tend to be left behind, including
poor single parents with children, the single elderly women, victims of all forms ofsexual violence, women migrants and the digitally divided in order to accomplish a
inclusive and sustainable society.
(5) To collect and publish gender disaggregated data on all goals and targets of SDGs.
Acknowledgements:

11

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25

I would like to express my application to Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women for enabling
this study. I also would like to thank the reviewer of the Japanese version of this article. The
comments by the reviewer helped me reconsider my article. As a member of the Gender Unitof the Japan Civil Society Network on SDGs, I hope this study will contribute to the unit’s
activities.

References:
Division for Sustainable Development (DSD), Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), United
Nations (2018) Synthesis of Voluntary National Reviews 2017https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/17109Synthesis_Report_VNRs_2017.pdf (lastaccessed 30 August 2018)

World Economic Forum (2017), The Global Gender Gap Report 2017

VNRs

Eradicating Poverty and Promoting Prosperity in a Changing World, Voluntary National Review (VNR), 2017
(Bangladesh) https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/15826Bangladesh.pdf (lastaccessed 30 October 2018)

Japan's Voluntary National Review Report on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/16445JapanVNR2017.pdf (last accessed 30
August 2018)
Malaysia Sustainable Development Goals Voluntary National Review 2017https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/15881Malaysia.pdf (last accessed 30 October
2018)

National Review of Sustainable Development Goals (Nepal)
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/16513Nepal.pdf (last accessed 30 October 2018)

National Report on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Portugal

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/15766Portugal2017_EN.pdf (last accessed 30
August 2018)

Pathways to Sustainable Development, First Belgian National Voluntary Review on the Implementation of
the 2030 Agenda https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/15721Belgium_Rev.pdf (lastaccessed 30 August 2018)

Report for the Voluntary National Review, Denmark’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/16013Denmark.pdf (lastaccessed 30 August 2018)

Sweden and the 2030 Agenda — Report to the UN High Level Political Forum 2017 on Sustainable
Development https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/16033Sweden.pdf (last accessed
30 August 2018)

Thailand’s Voluntary National Review on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/16147Thailand.pdf (last accessed
30 October 2018)

Voluntary National Review (VNR): Eradicating Poverty and Promoting Prosperity in a Changing World(Indonesia) https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/15705Indonesia.pdf (last accessed
30 October 2018)

Voluntary National Review Report on Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (India)
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/16693India.pdf (last accessed 30 October 2018)12

Journal of Asian Women’s Studies Vol.25

Voluntary National Review, Italy National Sustainable Development Strategy
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/16341Italy.pdf (last accessed 30 August 2018)

Voluntary National Review of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the implementation of the Sustainable
Development Goals https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/16109Netherlands.pdf (lastaccessed 30 August 2018)13