Gender inequalities deter human development in multiple areas such as education, employment opportunities, health, and environmental sustainability. Moreover, gender-based discrimination intersects with other types of discrimination; for example, those based on ethnicity or migrant status. In the end, they all result in systematic patterns of subjugation and suffering for millions of human beings. Sustainable development cannot therefore be pursued, let alone achieved, without a rigorous gender perspective in all research and development work.

Past and present ZEF research projects have looked at gender differentiations in education, migration, income generation and climate change adaptation, among others. ZEF has committed to making gender-sensitive research more systematic through, for example, its ZEF Gender Group regular events. Other recent actions include the increased visibility of gender implications in research in the Ethical Clearance document and the increasing inclusion of gender perspectives and intersectional analysis in doctoral/junior research projects.

(Text: Dennis Avilés)