Advancing Sustainable Development through Women’s Empowerment: A Review of Global and Indian Evidence (2020–2025)

Women’s empowerment is increasingly recognised as a foundational driver of sustainable development, shaping outcomes in poverty reduction, health, education, decent work, climate resilience, and inclusive governance. Marking International Women’s Day, this review synthesises evidence from 2020–2025 to examine how empowerment pathways operate globally and within India, and where persistent gaps constrain progress. Using a structured literature selection approach, the review analyses peer-reviewed studies and major development evidence across five empowerment domains: education and skills, economic participation and entrepreneurship, agency and decision-making, political representation, and socio-cultural norms linking each to sustainability outcomes aligned with the SDGs. Across contexts, the literature indicates that empowerment strengthens household welfare and intergenerational gains, expands productivity through labour-market inclusion, improves community-level responsiveness via women’s leadership, and enhances environmental stewardship where women have access to resources and a voice in local governance. However, gains remain uneven due to unpaid care burdens, labour-market segmentation, gender-based violence, limited digital and financial inclusion, and intersectional disadvantages affecting rural and marginalised groups. The review argues that sustainable development strategies are most effective when they integrate gender-responsive investments (education, health, care infrastructure, finance, and digital access) with legal protections and accountability mechanisms that convert participation into real decision power. The paper concludes by outlining policy and programmatic priorities for accelerating gender-equal, sustainable development in the next phase of SDG implementation.