Abstract:

Sustainable Development Goal One demands the reduction of poverty, hence holds significance in the South African context where a high unemployment rate still prevails, hampering socio-economic development of the country as a whole. In addition, poverty is linked to gender inequality with female counterparts occupying fewer jobs in the South African labour market than men. This situation is even more dire at grassroots levels, where a lack of education and civic awareness, inadequate gender-based poverty alleviation policies, and inappropriate gender-based participation in pro-poor growth strategies, contribute towards the weakening of women’s empowerment. This article hypothesises that gender equality in poverty reduction strategies could have a positive impact in the realisation of Sustainable Development Goal One. In order to explore the gender equality measures in poverty reduction initiatives, the article utilizes a qualitative research approach with an exploratory design. This involved distributing a survey questionnaire to residents of Emfuleni Local Municipality as part of the Mainstreaming Gender Equality (MGE) approach to promote equal opportunities in poverty reduction programmes at grassroots level in South Africa. The responses showed that community members are changing their perspectives on gender equality, the role of gender in achieving Development Goal One, and the significance of gender-based contributions towards social-economic development. The article recommends that future research should focus on gender-disaggregated needs, gender-sensitive roles, gender-based demographic data, and gendermainstreaming, as policy options for socio-economic development at local government level in South Africa.

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