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The growing socialisation with female virtual assistants in AI is rapidly diminishing the significance of women to 'a gendered female who responds on-demand'.

Current data suggests that the global community is far from achieving the 2030 agenda of ending hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition. By the end of 2019, 650 million people suffered from chronic hunger and 135 million experienced acute food-insecurity. Not all regions are equal: the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020 found that some are experiencing less severe incidence of hunger on the GHI scale, compared to others. The most serious levels of

This paper assesses the gendered division of labour for household-level domestic service activities, of which water management remains a primary component, across Indian states and the various dimensions of gender that are relevant in this context. Women have traditionally played an essential role in water management at the household level, devoting a significant share of their day to related unpaid domestic service activities. Such engagements o

Gender disparities in Kenya’s entrepreneurship cycle are a manifestation of both the historical marginalisation of women and the structural barriers limiting equal participation in the economy. Recent progress in the legal framework has been suboptimal in closing the gender gaps, as seen in the persistent inequalities in formal employment and the high concentration of unlicensed women-owned enterprises in the informal sector. The inequalities a

Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) is a targeted fiscal instrument that several developing countries have cemented into their growth plans. GRB is used to ensure that policy prescriptions to alleviate gender inequality translate into outputs by linking them to budgetary allocations. Although the concept was introduced in India, Bangladesh and Rwanda at around the same time (the early 2000s), the three countries have followed different routes and a

India introduced Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) in financial year 2005-06 to design public spending in a way that ensures that the benefits accrue as much to the country’s women as they do to the men. India’s effort has influenced both the government’s expenditures and its revenue policies—such as additional tax rebates on properties owned by women, for instance—at the levels of both central and state governments. However, 18

Gender equality is a fundamental human right. This principle is also found in the SDG 2030 Agenda where its signatories, including India, reaffirmed their commitment to mainstreaming gender development and ensuring equal representation of women in political and economic decision-making. This paper outlines gender-budgeting norms for resource allocations as an essential prerequisite for India to achieve progress towards the SDG-5 on gender equalit

Rapid advancements in medicine and falling fertility rates have contributed to the rise in the population of India’s older adults in recent decades. This demographic and epidemiological shift has a gendered impact: A higher proportion of women over the age of 60, compared to their male counterparts, suffer from Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension, heart and bone diseases, cancers, cognitive decline, and depression. T

Women make up a majority of the four billion people excluded from the digital economy. Policy narratives assert that the digital economy has the potential to transform the world of work. Conversely, there are concerns that the existing ‘digital divide’ within and across nations will simply exacerbate existing social inequalities and reinforce gender hierarchies. G20 member states have repeatedly committed to bridging pervasive gender gaps in

Today, machines reflect regressive, patriarchal ideas that have proven to be harmful to society. If this continues, technology may no longer usher us into a post-gender world.

There is nothing inherently empowering or sexist about technology. It just reflects the values of its creators.

Samir Bhattacharya, Caroline Kathure Gatobu, and Raymond Onuoha, “Bridging the Gender Digital Divide: Africa’s Imperatives,” ORF Special Report No. 238, December 2024, Observer Research Foundation.

This paper undertakes an analysis of the gender-disaggregated data from the National Statistical Organisation’s Time-Use Survey 2019, and finds that Indian women spend eight times more hours on unpaid care work than men. The patterns are similar across educational qualification, and employment or marital status: women with higher education, or earn their own incomes, do not spend any less time on unpaid care work. Shifting mindsets and rebalanc

An ORF Mumbai-SPGRC workshop has decided to launch a city-wide, age-appropriate awareness campaign to curb rising gender-related crimes in Greater Mumbai municipal corporation schools. It would try to sensitise children about sexual harassment and other gender-related crimes.

India will likely struggle to achieve the SDGs for financial reasons. At present, a shocking 2-3 per cent of Indians pay taxes. Mobilising domestic finance ? including optimal tax collection reform ? can help supplement the traditional sources of aid.

Mainstreaming gender in urbanisation can be a useful tool in understanding and tackling exclusionary growth and access to resources in urban spaces more generally.

Defence structures around the world are seeing a technological upheaving as new and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) are being added to military arsenals. However, military AI largely lacks precision and is often developed without any threat-modelling which takes gender into account, examples of which are already being seen in civilian applications of AI. Translated into a conflict environment, deploying such AI systems cou

The year 2022 saw the global economic outlook deteriorate amidst high inflation, fiscal tightening, and supply chain uncertainties arising from both the Russia-Ukraine war and the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), after expanding by some 5 percent in 2021, contracted in the first half of 2022. This brief makes a case for gender lens investing (GLI) as a means to boost women’s participation in economic act

This study explores the spatial politics of Othering and whether women aremarginalized in political conversations online in India. It's methodology consists of an analysis of23,350 tweets over an eight-day period. It shows a significant underrepresentation of women inTwitter's political conversations, which mirrors a real-world marginalization of women in India'spolitical processes.

The recommendations of the Verma Committee establishing a link between the urgent need for electoral reforms and gender justice is a novel recommendation in terms of ensuring that candidates / legislators are more gender sensitive.

This brief examines the literacy landscape in India between 1987 and 2017, focusing on the gender gap in four age cohorts: children, youth, working-age adults, and the elderly. It finds that the gender gap in literacy has shrunk substantially for children and youth, but the gap for older adults and the elderly has seen little improvement. A state-level analysis of the gap reveals the same trend for most Indian states. The brief offers recommendat

The seventh of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. This challenge is acute in the African continent, home to large populations without access to electricity and clean cooking fuel. This brief explores the scope for cooperation between India and Africa in not only achieving SDG 7, but while doing so, also considering the targets set by SDG 5 to

The first universal, legally binding global climate accord signed at the 21st session of the Conference of Parties (COP) in Paris in 2015 committed to long-term goals for “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” However, as world leaders prepare for the Facilitative Dialogue (FD) ahead o

India is among the countries in the world that are most vulnerable to the consequences of global warming. While there are notable efforts for both mitigation and adaptation, these have failed to consider issues of gender equity even as evidence shows that women and girls bear the disproportionate burden of climate change. This is a gap that needs to be bridged, given the complex interlinkages between climate and gender that encompass livelihoods,

The commitment of states towards achieving gender equality as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development received a renewed boost during the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023, with a marked shift in the discourse from women’s development to ‘women-led’ development. This article uses the Public Financial Management (PFM) lens to emphasise the role of governments in achieving gender-related outcomes. While proposing an outcom

Recent policies and programmes such as the draft National Energy Policy (NEP), 2017 and Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana have attempted to fill the critical gender gap by recognising the linkages of women to energy access.

India’s social structure, with enduring gender inequalities rooted in patriarchal norms, plays a significant role in perpetuating gender-based violence (GBV). Women in India have been victims of infanticide, selective abortions, sex trafficking, stalking, dowry demands, child marriages, acid attacks, and honour killings. This brief explores the social dimension of GBV in India and assesses how gaps in legislation help to perpetuate them. It als

This brief analyses the correlation between gender-based inequities and malnutrition. It highlights the case of South Asia, and uses as a backdrop the compounded challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors review existing literature on the subject and cull patterns, with the aim of outlining recommendations for countries in the region for bridging interrelated gaps in gender parity and nutrition.

India ranks 114 out of 142 countries in the Global Gender Gap index this year. Except Pakistan, most of the South Asian countries rank higher than India. What the index shows is a reflection of reality that no matter how rapidly India grows, women's status in society needs faster improvement.

The technology revolution of the 20th century minimised the importance of geographical, economic, social and political barriers and reduced transaction and information costs thus boosting productivity and growth, making governance more transparent and empowering the citizen. It propelled not only democracy, but also the market economy. Its impact on social relations, especially on gender relations, was significant, with the commodification of lab

Why is the Modi government not showing the same support for criminalising marital rape as it did with outlawing triple talaq. After all, gender violence is not religion, class or caste specific.

Among the estimated 1.3 billion people across the world who have no access to electricity, 70 percent are women. This brief discusses the impact of energy poverty on India’s rural women. As women are primarily responsible for securing food and energy for their family, they are the ones who are worst affected by the lack of access to clean and modern energy. The brief calls for a more holistic approach in research and policymaking on energ

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its eighth month in late October and shows no sign of abatement. The war has had massive consequences on Ukraine, and women and girls are bearing the disproportionate burden. The conflict has further exacerbated gender inequities that were already compounded by eight years of armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and, beginning in early 2020, by the COVID-19 pandemic. This report seeks to fill the gaps in litera

Lack of monetary resources may prove to be a major impediment to India achieving its climate targets and the Sustainable Development Goals.

If Hillary Clinton runs for office in 2016, it seems that she will be campaigning for herself as herself - an exceptional professional, a controversial former secretary of state, and a woman.

The health of adolescents is crucial to achieving India’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Government of India has spotlighted adolescent health in various programmes and policies. However, substantial health challenges continue to affect Indian youth. This paper describes the health profile of adolescents in India and, in particular in Uttar Pradesh, one of the country’s least performing states in the domain of health outcomes.

The geographical and socioeconomic characteristics of small island developing states (SIDS) expose them to unique challenges. Climate change, in particular, poses a severe threat to SIDS, with rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and changing precipitation patterns negatively affecting their ecosystems, economies, and communities. This brief assesses the challenges faced by SIDS in accessing traditional climate financing and analyses the effec