Keywords : Sustainable Development, Women Empowerment, Gender Equality, Environment, Development, Policy Reforms.

Abstract : Women and girls constitute about 50% of the world`s population. That is, half of the human potential is also made up of women. The main goal of the fifth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5) is to empower women by achieving gender equality. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to find out what is the role of women`s empowerment in achieving gender equality in India and how it can make sustainable development possible. For this, the present study has used qualitative data and published sources. Studies show that the contribution of women to economic development is still less compared to men. The political sphere is also dominated by men and the role of women in the decision-making process is very low. Moreover, violence and crimes against women have increased in the last few years. Studies also say that women`s participation in issues like climate change is also low in India. Therefore, the main conclusion of this study is that unless women are sufficiently empowered and gender equality is achieved, they will not be able to play a sufficient role in the economic, social, political and environmental development of the country. For sustainable development, it is necessary to give equal importance to the contributions of both men and women. This study draws the attention of policy makers to be more committed to the empowerment of women and to move towards sustainable development by utilizing the potential of the entire country.

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