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New evidence says inequality based on ethnicity is a significant problem that won't easily be resolved
Discrimination based on ethnic identity is sadly still a driver of inequality in just about any corner of the globe. From the streets of Ferguson Missouri to the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the Northern villages of Ghana, the relationship between a person’s ethnic identity and the opportunities available to them are far too strong.
We often think of ethnic divisions in the extreme case of conflict or violence, and in doing so, probably assume the scale of problem of ethnic discrimination to be much smaller than it really is.
In fact, ethnic discrimination lies at the root of many forms of disadvantage, and greater awareness of the varied effects of discrimination is sorely needed if all people are truly going to be integrated into the development progress that is being aspired to around the world.
In the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, discrimination falls under the banner of ‘leave no one behind’, a phrase that has now become well known among those researching or campaigning on issues related to inequality as it’s become synonymous (albeit in more tempered language) for inequality. But what does it really mean, and what does it call upon signatories to do?
The Sustainable Development Goals don’t go so far as to name check the reasons that people have been left behind. There are likely to be many. More reasons than a global agreement could feasibly cover, and more than this brief blog can aspire to.
But the danger of turning a blind eye to the underlying causes for people having been left behind is that despite our best efforts over the next 15 years, we’ll likely look back in 2030 and still see a set of distinct groups far behind.
While the reasons for groups of people being left behind may be complex – wrapped up in politics, history and social relations – we can pinpoint some of the likely causes.
New evidence from an ODI paper 'In quest of inclusive progress' (which I’ve co-authored) finds that the poorest women from disadvantaged ethnic groups are the most likely to have been 'left behind' by recent progress in health and education in 16 countries with available data.
The study finds that poorer groups within certain ethnicities continue to be at the greatest disadvantage. Findings from the paper also show that inequalities based on ethnicity have changed least across these 16 countries (countries spanning geographic and income-level divides), suggesting that not only is inequality based on ethnicity a significant problem, it’s also one that won’t be easily resolved.
If governments are serious about leaving no one behind in the next global push to "eliminate poverty in all its forms everywhere", they will need to be prepared to tackle the systemic discrimination that prevents people from certain groups within societies from benefiting from wider progress.
Amanda Lenhardt is a Senior Adviser on Social Exclusion at Save the Children UK, and formerly a Research Officer at the Overseas Development Institute. Her research interests include rural livelihoods, agricultural development, the measurement of multidimensional poverty and inequality.
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