Diversity and inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are essential tenets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of global objectives designed to address various social, economic, and environmental challenges. These concepts are not only integral to specific SDGs but also permeate the entire framework, emphasizing the need for equitable and inclusive approaches in all aspects of development.

SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 5 (Gender Equality) are directly connected to the principles of diversity and inclusion. SDG 10 aims to reduce inequality within and among countries. This involves taking measures to ensure the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, regardless of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status. It calls for the elimination of discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, providing equal opportunities and reducing disparities, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalized groups.

SDG 5 focuses on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. This goal underscores the need for ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls everywhere, and it involves various targets including the elimination of violence, ensuring women's full participation in leadership and decision-making, and guaranteeing equal rights to economic resources. By promoting gender equality, SDG 5 directly contributes to the broader objective of creating inclusive societies.

Furthermore, diversity and inclusion are crucial in achieving SDG 4 (Quality Education), which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. This involves addressing disparities in access to education and ensuring that vulnerable populations, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and children in vulnerable situations, receive equal opportunities for education. Inclusive education is a foundation for building more inclusive societies, as it prepares all individuals to participate fully in their communities and economies.

SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) also embodies the values of diversity and inclusion. It promotes sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. This includes advocating for equal pay for work of equal value, promoting safe and inclusive working environments, and reducing the gender pay gap. By ensuring that all individuals have access to decent work opportunities and are treated fairly in the workplace, SDG 8 plays a pivotal role in advancing inclusive economic growth.

The pursuit of diversity and inclusion is indispensable for realizing the vision of the SDGs. These principles are not confined to specific goals but are woven throughout the entire framework, reflecting the understanding that a fair, sustainable, and prosperous world can only be achieved when all individuals, regardless of their background or circumstances, have the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from development. The SDGs recognize that addressing inequalities, empowering marginalized groups, and ensuring inclusive participation are essential for sustainable development, and they call on all stakeholders, including governments, businesses, civil society, and individuals, to work towards these objectives.

Elsevier,

The Lancet, Volume 400, Issue 10368, 10–16 December 2022, Pages 2137-2146

Interventions targeting the health effects of racism, xenophobia, and discrimination: what, where, and at which level of society?
This Series paper supports SDGs 3 and 10 by focusing on wider societal action to confront the health effects of racism, highlighting that broader, deeper, transformative action is needed compared with current measures to tackle the adverse effects of racism on health.
This Article supports SDGs 3 and 10 by showing that, globally, Black women are at higher risk of adverse perinatal outcomes of neonatal death, stillbirth, preterm birth, and small-for-gestational-age babies than White women, even after adjusting for maternal characteristics. Moreover, these racial disparities in perinatal outcomes were consistently observed across all geographical regions.
Elsevier,

The Lancet Global Health, Volume 11, Issue 1, January 2023, Pages e155-e164 

Framework for the use of imagery in global health
This Health Policy paper supports SDGs 3 and 10; the authors did an empirical analysis of the use of imagery by key global health stakeholders and showed that the narrative currently depicted in imagery is one of power imbalances, depicting women and children from low-income and middle-income countries with less dignity, respect, and power than those from high-income countries.
This Article supports SDGs 3 and 16 by assessing gaps in the evidence on key health outcomes and inequalities in Latin American and Caribbean countries, focusing particularly on inequalities between people of African descent and people of non-African descent.
This Article supports SDGs 3 and 16 by assessing whether ethnicity influences the risk of out of hospital cardiac arrest in immigrants in Denmark. The authors emphasise that identifying ethnic disparities is important to understand and prevent out of hospital cardiac arrests and to reduce inequalities.
Elsevier,

The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific, Volume 28, November 2022

This Article supports SDG 3 by analysing contemporary mortality data to examine Māori and non-Māori mortality rates in rural and urban areas, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to address the health inequities faced by rural Māori populations. This is the first study in a decade to compare Māori mortality rates across the urban rural spectrum and it is the first study to do so using an urban: rural geographic classification developed for use in health policy and research.
This Article supports SDG 3 and 10 by highlighting the need for age-appropriate Indigenous strategies to improve health outcomes and reduce inequities for rangatahi Māori. This study provides an overview of Indigenous youth trends in Aotearoa New Zealand over two decades utilising repeated series of cross-sectional and representative surveys of secondary school students. Health inequities persisted over the 19-year period for rangatahi Māori, when compared to their Pākehā (NZ European /other European/“White”) peers, with few exceptions. 
This Article supports SDG 3 by exploring perspectives of Pasifika women on the barriers to, and facilitators of, HPV self-testing, as this population has a higher rate of cervical cancer incidence and mortality than European women and a lower screening rate.
Banner image graphic showing people holding up signs; caption reads Unite to end the inequalities holding back the end of AIDS
Elsevier is proud to support World AIDS Day on 1st December by making freely available a special issue of 40 journal articles and book chapters, highlighting various issues around AIDS.
This paper focuses on raising awareness of disability among Saudi university graduates.

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