The Agenda–Instrument Gap in SDG 5: An Intersectional, Cross-Context Assessment

This study critically examines global implementation of SDG 5 through an integrated lens of intersectionality, postcolonial and feminist theory, Critical Race Theory, and social justice/capabilities frameworks. Using a qualitative multiple case approach and secondary data across India, Nepal, Ghana, South Africa, and the United States, it identifies persistent gaps between gender rhetoric and redistributive instruments; crisis guidance that recognizes harms yet avoids macro structural reform; and capability constraints shaped by disability and place. Findings highlight unpaid care burdens, racialized and caste-based exclusions, and urban-centric leadership pipelines that reproduce inequality despite formal commitments. The paper advances a reform agenda: disaggregated, context sensitive metrics; participatory co-design with marginalized communities; protection for informal labor and care work; and resource backed, accountable governance. Achieving SDG 5 requires coupling recognition with redistribution and centering substantive outcomes such as autonomy, dignity, safety, and equitable access rather than representational counts.