Measuring Progress on SDG 5: Insights from Private Companies to Research Performing Organizations

rganizations around the world are experimenting new tools and methods that provide information of their progress on reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In particular we focus on the specific targets of SDG 5 that aims to achieve gender equality and calls for the full participation of women and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of political and economic decision-making. The paper provides guidance on how to implement an appropriate measurement and reporting process that fit with the RPOs’ SDG 5 accountability issues. Over the past decade, companies are getting better at identifying where the status of women is material to their business, as board members, employees, customers, suppliers and as members of the communities in which they operate. For many firms, integrating gender issues across the value chain is now considered both good for society and good for business. An important role in encouraging companies to develop an integrated approach to gender equality issues, has been played by the EU normative, in particular the Directive 2014/95/EU. The non-financial reporting directive (NFRD) has stimulated many firms to report their objectives and implementation plan for promoting gender equality strategically. This process is ongoing, but it is not too early to explore what we can learn from the successful integration and assessment of gender issues across corporate sustainable value chains. How can we adapt the approaches used in that effort to build a similar movement for monitoring of RPOs’ progress on SDG 5? The paper recommends an approach for measuring SDG progress that accounts on how RPOs’ define the gender issues that are material for both organization and its stakeholders in order to fulfil the leave no‐one behind ambition of the 2030 agenda. Applying this approach can significantly change the progress narrative and stakeholders’ understanding of RPOs’ priorities for SDG 5 implementation and progress evaluation.