#Goal10: #ReducedInequalities
Updated: Nov 3, 2018
Image credit: Life Moments Photography
Equality is currently a hot topic in Australia.
Gender equality, LGBTIQ* equality, race equality… the list goes on and on.
One of the three main aims of the global goals is to fight inequality by 2030. We have touched on #Goal5: #GenderEquality already. Today, we’re talking about reducing inequalities across the board, both within countries and among countries.
Before we get started, we need to get one thing clear: no one should be discriminated against due to their age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, sexuality, or economic status or any other status in society.
With this in mind, let’s start exploring Goal 10!
Image credit: KMJ Photography Australia
Target 10.1 aims to achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average. There aren’t the adequate statistics available for this target at this time, but we are working on finding them!
Target 10.2 refers to the empowerment and social, economic and political inclusion of all. This includes ensuring equal opportunities and the reduction in inequalities of outcome. To do this, we must eliminate discriminatory laws, policies and practices as well as promote appropriate legislation, policies and actions in this regard. These policies include fiscal, wage and social protection policies.
Image credit: Rusty Stewart
One of the main focuses of the Global Goals Australia Campaign will be the promotion of equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics provides a few graphs to highlight the inequality between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-indigenous people. We have included one below but you can see more by visiting their website here.
The list of inequalities continues far past health: education, employment, domestic violence… all issues we must work to fix in harmony with the Original people of Australia.
This is a basic snapshot of what we need to do within Australia. There are also a list of things we need to do as part of a global team working towards sustainable development.
Target 10.5 aims to improve the regulation and monitoring of global financial markets and institutions and to strengthen the implementation of such regulations.
Target 10.6 refers to the need to ensure enhanced representation and voice for developing countries in decision-making in global international economic and financial institutions in order to deliver more effective, credible, accountable and legitimate institutions.
One of the most debated political topics in Australia at the moment is migration. Target 10.7 aims to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.
We must work on a few key things in order for this to happen. Firstly, we must implement the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries in accordance with World Trade Organisation agreements.
We must also encourage official development assistance and financial flows, including foreign direct investment, to States where the need is greatest. This development assistance must support activities sensitive to the recipient countries’ national plans and programmes. We must also reduce the transaction costs of migrant remittances to less than 3 per cent and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent in order for migrant workers to continue to support their family and friends overseas. While Australia’s average cost of transferring remittances has fallen over the last few years by 38%, the average cost for transferring remittances in Australia is still over triple what it needs to be by 2030, currently reported to be at approximately 9.2%.
If Australia’s commitment to reducing inequalities sounds like something with which you would like to become involved, check out “Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities” and head over to our “What Can I Do?” page to see how you can become part of the solution with the Global Goals Australia Campaign!
This article was originally published on the Global Goals Australia Campaign website.