This document discusses inequalities and the post-2015 sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia (EECCA) region. It notes that the SDGs aim to address root causes of inequalities in a universal, measurable, and ambitious way from 2015-2030. However, millennium development goals (MDGs) failed to reduce inequality in many countries despite economic growth. The document argues inequality must be a core issue for the post-2015 agenda and lists specific SDGs aimed at reducing inequality. It provides examples of how mapping can reveal inequalities within countries regarding access to water, sanitation, and health. The document advocates for social protection floors, fair taxes, living wages, and

1. Inequalities and the Post 2015
Sustainable Development Goals in
the EECCA region
Sascha Gabizon
WECF International
Women‘s Major Group

2. Sustainable Development Goals result
from other UN process (Rio+20)
• Universal (not just for developing countries)
• 15 years (2015-2030)
• Measurable (indicators key)
• Ambitious and transformative
• Address root causes of inequalities
• Implementable (Means of Implementation)

3. End of the “Trickle Down” Myth
• MDG’s aimed at halving extreme poverty
• MDG has not been achieved
• Despite progress in GDP, majority of
population no progress
• What did increase is inequality, more rich
people

4. Inequality core issue for Post2015
• Oxfam report “Wealth: Having it all and wanting more”
• The combined wealth of the richest 1 per cent will overtake that of
the other 99 per cent of people next year

5. Inequality – concentration of power
• The 80 richest individuals now have the same wealth as the bottom
50% of the world’s population (in 2010 were still 388 people)
• There is increasing evidence from the e.g. International Monetary
Fund, that extreme inequality is not just bad news for those at the
bottom but also damages economic growth.

6. Source: Ortiz and Cummins (2011) UNICEF
Source: Ortiz and Cummins. 2011. Global Inequality. UNICEF
Intra and inter-Country Inequality, 2007
ConstantUS$,2000value

7. Power to lobby policy makers
• Elite groups mobilise their vast resources to ensure
global rules are favourable towards their interests.
• 20% of billionaires have interests in the financial and
insurance sectors. These sectors spent $550m lobbying
policy makers in Washington and Brussels during 2013
• Billionaires of the pharmaceutical and healthcare
sectors saw their collective net worth increase by 47 %.
During 2013, they spent more than $500m lobbying
policy makers in Washington and Brussels

8. Inequalities barrier to implementation
of Post2015 agenda
• Inequalities in wealthy countries barrier to
implementation of SDGs
• Race to the bottom, increases nb of people in poverty
• Funds needed from increasing ODA funding from OECD
countries – not charity
• “Median annual income” can be indicator for SDGs
• Median income has stagnated for decades at poverty
line of less than 2$ per day – despite MDGs
• Even though economic growth in many countries,
majority of population has not seen increase income

10. What works to reduce inequalities?
• Social protection floors
– Minimum income guarantee
– Universal, free public services, health, education, housing, water
• example Brazil 50 million people out of poverty in Lula’s presidency period
• Share the tax burden fairly, shifting taxation from labour and
consumption towards capital and wealth
– Introduce financial transaction taxes a.o.
• Introduce minimum wages and ensure a living wage for all
workers
• Introduce equal pay legislation and promote economic
policies to give women a fair deal
• Reduce and redistribute women’s burden of unpaid work
• Stop tax dodging by corporations and rich individuals
• Debt restructuring

11. Example of Fin. Transaction Tax

12. Beyond GDP as key indicator
• Nigeria has had growth in per capita in come in
the last 10 yrs, the efforts have not been shared,
the median has not gone up.
• In Brazil, median income has gone up more than
GDP, is admirably shared growth.
– Brazil has already forms of FFT (cc, dividends)
– The Social Protection floor cost only 1% of GDP
• Uganda, median income has tracked GDP growth,
equally shared.
• In US, the median household income has not
increased: Median income as a universal
indicator

13. Sustainable Development Goals
dealing specifically with inequality

14. Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms
everywhere
• 1.1 by 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people
living on less than $1.25 a day
• 1.2 by 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in
poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
• 1.3 implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including
floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable
• 1.4 by 2030 ensure that all men and women, particularly the poor and the vulnerable, have equal
rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership, and control over land
and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology, and
financial services including microfinance
• 1.5 by 2030 build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations, and reduce their
exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and
environmental shocks and disasters
• 1.a. ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through
enhanced development cooperation to provide adequate and predictable means for developing
countries, in particular LDCs, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its
dimensions
• 1.b create sound policy frameworks, at national, regional and international levels, based on pro-
poor and gender-sensitive development strategies to support accelerated investments in poverty
eradication actions

15. Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and
empower all women and girls
• 5.1 end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
• 5.2 eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres,
including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation
• 5.3 eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital
mutilations
• 5.4 recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services,
infrastructure and social protection policies, and the promotion of shared responsibility within the
household and the family as nationally appropriate
• 5.5 ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all
levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life
• 5.6 ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in
accordance with the Programme of Action of the ICPD and the Beijing Platform for Action and the
outcome documents of their review conferences
• 5.a undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to
ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance, and
natural resources in accordance with national laws
• 5.b enhance the use of enabling technologies, in particular ICT, to promote women’s
empowerment
• 5.c adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender
equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels

17. Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and
among countries
10.1 by 2030 progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40% of the
population at a rate higher than the national average
10.2 by 2030 empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all
irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other
status
10.3 ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including through
eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate
legislation, policies and actions in this regard
10.4 adopt policies especially fiscal, wage, and social protection policies and progressively
achieve greater equality
10.5 improve regulation and monitoring of global financial markets and institutions and
strengthen implementation of such regulations
10.6 ensure enhanced representation and voice of developing countries in decision making
in global international economic and financial institutions in order to deliver more effective,
credible, accountable and legitimate institutions
10.7 facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people,
including through implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies
10.a implement the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries,
in particular least developed countries, in accordance with WTO agreements
10.b encourage ODA and financial flows, including foreign direct investment, to states
where the need is greatest, in particular LDCs, African countries, SIDS, and LLDCs, in
accordance with their national plans and programmes
10.c by 2030, reduce to less than 3% the transaction costs of migrant remittances and
eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5%

18. Millennium Development Goals
• The MDGs: very aggregated, hide inequalities in EECCA region

19. 19
WECF focus on MDG3+7
1000 individual UDDT
50 school UDDT in rural areas
Access to WATSAN for 35,000 people

20. Mapping of Inequalities within countries

21. Mapping of Inequalities - WASH

22. Mapping of Inequalities MDG3+7
Region No daily
access to
running
water[1]
Acceptable
level of access
to running
water[2] (12-24
hours per day)
Villages
without
CRWSS[3]
Safe water
in more
than 500m
distance
Access to
improved
sanitation[4]
Water
Quality[5]
Water-
related
diseases[
6]
Normalize
d poverty[7]
Female
representati
ves in
parliament
2008
Jalalabat
oblast
1.57% 19% 48% 24.1% 15% 56% 18.2%
Osh oblast
1.92% 24% 42% 23.8% 14% 63% 14.8%
Batken
oblast
1.77% 28% 49% 23.1% 6% 34% 14.5%
Talas
oblast
3.48% 38% 18% 16.5% 9% 39.5% 11.5%
Issyk-Kul
oblast
3.36% 51% 22% 20.2% 15% 28% 16.2%
Naryn
oblast
0.06% 68% 24% 11.6% 9% 40% 13.3%
Chui
oblast
1.01% 72% 7% 11.6% 39% 17% 24.8%
Bishkek
city
0% - - - 81% 21% 13.6%

23. Conditions in rural areas of the region
Huge gap between
urban and rural areas
Minorities such as
the Roma population
are especially
affected by poor
conditions
84% of people without an improved water
source live in rural areas (WHO Europe)
(UNICEF/WHO 2011)

24. Access to Water in Households and
Schools in rural areas
Unconnected household
Public well
Public tap
School well

25. Household
Household
School
School
Kindergarten
Access to Sanitation in Households and
Schools in rural areas

26. WASH and Gender
Great inequalities in water sector – women most affected
• The population without an improved drinking water source living in
rural area is 5 times higher than in urban areas (UNICEF/WHO
2012)
• The poorest people have the lowest levels of services
• Women and girls shoulder the largest burden of collecting water
(resp. 62% and 9%)
• Poor women living in rural areas are disproportionately affected
Current ODA not sufficiently addressing those most in need
• Almost 66% of the official development assistance (ODA) is
targeted to the development of large systems

27. Surveys women, school girls
Focus group discussions in rural villages
Q: Is your toilet at home/at work/public toilet
offer sufficient privacy and adequate facility to
manage menstruation in a good way?
A: “No, 100 % toilets in the village without any
privacy or adequate facility. Usually toilets are
far from houses at 50-100 meters. It causes
problems not only in winter, but at night also.”
Women and girls do not have adequate private
facilities which can be locked.

28. MHM Case study Kyrgyzstan
Focus group discussions on Menstruation Hygienic Management
(MHM)
• Lack of communication and knowledge on menstruation,
reproductive health rights for girls.
• “The girls cannot talk about their problem even with friends as
talks will cause gossips. “
• They do not have doctors for consultancy in the village.
• High cost of sanitary pads, affordable sanitary pads are of poor
quality. Women use leftovers from the sewing workshops which
often lead to leaks, shame.

30. When 90% of rural population use
firewood

31. Women‘s disadvantaged position
• Georgia, in general suffers from relatively high
unemployment and self-employment rates for
both men and women.
• Women, however, are further disadvantaged at
the labour market, as demonstrated by the gaps
in labour force participation rate, employment
rate and salaries.
• According to official data, as of 2012, only 57.4%
of women are considered as economically active,
while the respective indicator for men stands at
78.2%.

32. Women‘s inequal opportunities
• In Georgia, women lack control over land and property
which limits their ability to benefit equally to men from
energy facilities - such as solar systems, wind turbines, and
bio-fuel plantations - that require land
• Women lack income which is a barrier for investing in
technology that improves the productivity of women’s
labour
• Women lack access to credit which limits their ability to pay
the up- front costs of improved energy technology or
connection fees to the electricity grid
• Women have limited access to extension service and
education which limits their abilities to become energy
entrepreneurs and earn an income.

34. www.wecf.eu
For more information

35. 17 Sustainable Development Goals (1.7.14)

36. 17 SDG goals (continued)

37. Water Goal 6
• 6.1 by 2030, achieve universal and equitable
access to safe and affordable drinking water
for all
• 6.2 by 2030, achieve access to adequate and
equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and
end open defecation, paying special attention
to the needs of women and girls and those in
vulnerable situations

38. What was lost / is missing
• Title does not say “ensure universal access to..”
• Reference to WASH in schools, hospitals, refugee
camps..
– Replaced by “in vulnerable situations”, no (more)
reference to Menstrual Hygiene Management
• Reference to a hierarchy of water use that
prioritizes human needs, small-scale food
production, ecosystem needs and cultural use
before uses for industrial agriculture, energy and
industry
• Participatory trans-boundary co-operation

39. Missing Means of implementation
• Sufficient public financing for water and sanitation ser
vices to ensure universality and sustainability
• The protection of water and sanitation services from p
rivatization/liberalization through loan conditionalities
, trade agreements and investment treaties
• The recognition of indigenous and community rights t
o empower frontline communities in the protection of
watersheds
• International and regional cooperation in knowledge
and technology transfer through public-
public partnerships

40. Proposal indicators
• All women and girls should have access to safe
sanitary facilities and be enabled to manage their
menstrual hygiene (MHM) in a dignified fashion
– All women and girls have access to menstrual sanitary
material
– Including
• privacy in sanitary facilities (doors)
• waste-bins for sanitary materials
• washing facilities – to clean their own pads, and hands

42. Thank you