Entering the New Quadrennium with a Promise to Leave No One Behind

Leave No One Behind (LNOB), the central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is the theme for the upcoming quadrennium of the YWCA – a timely and appropriate decision by the organisation. With just under eight years left to achieve the Global Goals, it is time for all stakeholders – governments, civil society, faith-based organisations, and people’s movements – to take an urgent stock of what we have achieved so far, what remains to be done and very importantly who continues to be left behind. While undoubtedly, there has been progress on some of the goals, we still have a long way to go.

Inequality is growing for more than 70% of the world’s population, exacerbating the risks of divisions and hampering social and economic development.¹ The COVID-19 pandemic has devastatingly impacted poverty levels and inequality and presents an enormous challenge to the 2030 Agenda. Globally one sees the rise of autocracy and a decline of political rights and civil liberties in many democracies. As we steadily move towards 2030, action to meet the Goals needs to be accelerated, if we wish to remain faithful to the promise we made to ourselves in 2015 of a fair future for all peoples and the planet. The YWCA, a grassroots-driven, global movement rooted in the leadership of women and girls, has a critical role to play to achieve Agenda 2030 and address the root causes of marginalisation, deprivation, conflict, and environmental injustice.

Leaving No One Behind

People are left behind when they lack choices and opportunities to participate in and benefit from development processes. People living in poverty are considered ‘left behind’, as are those who endure disadvantages or deprivations based on their caste, religion, race, sexuality, gender, ethnicity, disability, nationality, and migratory status. Often these social categories intersect, causing layers of marginalisation and vulnerabilities for individuals and communities, limiting their choices and opportunities. Geography is also significant in determining who gets left behind and why. Certain communities endure isolation, vulnerability, missing or inferior public services, transportation, internet, or other infrastructure gaps due to their residence.² Governance is another critical factor. People face disadvantages due to ineffective, unjust, unaccountable, or unresponsive global, national, and sub-national institutions. Individuals and communities are also affected by inequitable, inadequate, or unfair laws, policies, processes, or budgets and cannot participate meaningfully in decisions that impact them.³ Lastly, some communities are highly vulnerable to shocks from climate change, natural disasters, violence, conflict, displacement, health emergencies, and economic downturns. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed society’s deep divisions, showing how SARS-CoV-2 has not been an equal opportunity virus.

Visioning the Next Quadrennium

YWCA India is now entering the next quadrennium with hope and promise, having identified three thematic areas for priority engagement and action – Strengthening Communities, Building Youth, and Nurturing Nature, each firmly rooted in the larger vision of ‘Leaving No One Behind’. As the organisation forges ahead, one is confident that it will remain faithful to the bold and transformative #Goal35 – “By 2035, 100 million young women and girls will transform power structures to create justice, gender equality, and a world without violence and war.…”⁴ Leaving no one behind means upholding the dignity of human beings and placing the progress of the most marginalised communities first. Women and girls are often at the top of the list and, therefore, must be at the forefront of efforts to address the structural causes of inequality and marginalisation that affect them.

The areas identified by YWCA for action are critical areas for policy engagement, advocacy, research, and intervention. However, for a meaningful and impactful response, the organisation must ensure that each area is embedded in and responds to the country’s socio, economic and political context. Social justice, human rights, and constitutional morality must be at the core of each thematic area to ensure that no individual, group, or community is left behind. A brief reflection on a probable way forward for each of the thematic areas is provided below:

Building Youth

India has the largest youth population in the world; around 66 per cent of the total population is below the age of 35.⁵ While this large cohort presents an excellent opportunity to reap a rich demographic dividend; their potential can be realised only with intelligent investments, which create well-nourished, healthy, appropriately educated, and skilled youth.⁶ Policymakers, civil society, faith-based organisations, industry, and academia need to develop strategies with young people at the centre to harness the demographic dividend before us, or it will only remain a numerical strength. Towards this end, YWCA India must continue to proactively work for the overall development of youth, particularly young women and girls and those from marginalised backgrounds. However, while recognizing the tremendous asset that young people are and their capacity for a remarkable multiplier effect, YWCA must also work to build their capabilities, resources, and skills to deal with the incredible challenges and even life-threatening risks they face, which are often disproportionately carried by girls and young women. Lastly, work with young people on plurality, diversity, citizenship, democracy, secularism, and social justice for a just and inclusive country and world.

Strengthening Communities

As an organisation, YWCA must actively support communities to improve connectedness, civic engagement, well-being, and social justice. Particular focus must be on communities that are the poorest, most vulnerable, and the furthest behind – those living in extreme poverty in rural and urban areas, remote and geographically vulnerable communities, Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, homeless, sex workers, and so on. Many risks are dumped on poor and marginalised communities, and women face an overwhelming burden. Build resilience so those most marginalised can thrive despite shocks, stresses, and uncertainty. For this to happen, development organisations will have to undergo a paradigm shift as they have for far too long avoided dealing with risk. Further, never forget that vulnerability can only be reduced by addressing inequality and power differentials and empowering communities to claim their citizenship rights. Develop authentic partnerships with local communities, and build on community strengths and institutions. If disenfranchised communities cannot get their voices heard or their concerns addressed, it may be because no one is listening to them or there is a significant trust deficit. This is very much the case for communities targeted/discriminated against by the State through its overt and covert actions. Stand firm and visible in solidarity with such communities and build their capacities to resist oppression through peaceful and constitutional methods with optimism and hope.

Nurturing Nature

Human beings have a symbiotic relationship with nature: we benefit from it and, in turn, must protect it – for its sake and our own and, of course, posterity. Yet today, we are in the throes of a climate crisis that is posing an unprecedented threat and jeopardising our survival. The effects of climate will disproportionately affect the world’s poorest people, as is increasingly evident, and will worsen poverty. The WHO says that between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress alone. The direct damage costs to health are estimated to be between US$ 2–4 billion annually by 2030. Areas with poor health infrastructure will be the least able to cope.⁷ India is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change, and its impact can be seen in drought, pollution, and extreme weather events such as the recent heat waves and intense rainfalls that have been causing havoc. Given that so much is at stake, the time for action is now! Civil society and faith-based organisations like YWCA must play a critical role in climate change mitigation efforts by facilitating grassroots innovations in low carbon development,⁸ championing nature-based solutions to saving ecosystems, promoting biodiversity programmes that ensure livelihoods, and supporting sustainable agricultural projects, and empowering and strengthening community participation in natural resource management. YWCA can join efforts to strengthen civil society advocacy and watchdog role on the environment and promote youth-driven participatory action in this regard. Last but not least, it can promote sustainable consumption, green lifestyle practices, stewardship, and care for creation as critical dimensions of organisational culture.

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All the very best to YWCA as it moves into the next quadrennium with a vision and praxis inspired by faith and anchored in the rights-based framework. May the organisation continue to partner and support women and girls as they lead the struggle to make the goal of leaving no one behind a reality.

Notes

1. Rising inequality affecting more than two-thirds of the globe, but it’s not inevitable: new UN report – UN News. ↩︎

2. What Does It Mean to Leave No One Behind? – UNDP. ↩︎

3. Ibid., 3. ↩︎

4. Our Bold & Transformative Goal – World YWCA. ↩︎

5. Decent Work for Youth in India – International Labour Organization. ↩︎

6. Sethi, G., Bharat, S. (2019). Adolescents and Youth: Setting the Context. In: Bharat, S., Sethi, G. (eds) Health and Wellbeing of India’s Young People. Springer, Singapore. ↩︎

7. Climate change – WHO. ↩︎

8. Benard O. Muok & Ann Kingiri (2015). The role of civil society organizations in low-carbon innovation in Kenya. Innovation and Development, 5:2, 207–223. ↩︎