The people most likely to be left behind by development are those facing ‘intersecting inequalities’, or economic deficits intersecting with discrimination and exclusion on the grounds of identity and locational disadvantage. The experiences and relative successes of seven countries reviewed in this report suggest that there are a small number of ‘key ingredients’ required to address intersecting inequalities. These include: social mobilisation, political change, constitutional reforms, increased political participation in pluri-national states, a combination of universal and targeted or affirmative action especially in the policy field, and further mobilisation around the implementation of rights and guarantees.
The combined existence of these ingredients is what characterises an ‘inclusive political settlement’ – one in which social justice is an explicit concern of both politics and policy-making. The key factor is sustained determination over time to tackle deeply rooted inequalities, providing a crucial platform for effective policy implementation. Politics matters for this; but so do social norms and cultural values.
The national context for addressing intersecting inequalities is highly varied. There is a need for principles of inclusion, sectoral policies focused on rights and guarantees, opportunity enhancements and ‘developmental’ affirmative action and underlying institutional changes. Political inclusion is critical, and the report picks out two main types of political settlements which have significantly addressed intersecting inequalities: i) governments with a strong inclusive and redistributive agenda combined with class-based social mobilisation; and ii) multi-ethnic countries in which movement-based governments result from identity-group mobilisation.
The report proposes the following framework. Social mobilisation through social movements (and sometimes conflict) contributes to political change, which in turn generates new constitutions (principles), new sectoral policies combining universal and targeted measures and increased space for political participation, which reinforces social mobilisation. Countries focused on in this report from which this model has been derived include: Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.
The combinations and sequences of targeted and universal actions are varied, but a common pattern emerges: basic services are universally provided, while measures focused on supporting income and basic cash and food needs are commonly targeted.
Positive outcomes require long term political commitment and stability, political coalitions held together by long term vision, and a wide policy agenda. Even then positive outcomes can be difficult to achieve for some groups. It is not only a progressive government that is required, but also progressive social change, which modifies attitudes and values towards excluded groups. It may be easier to address intersecting inequalities in Africa through universal policy measures compared to Asia and Latin America, where the discrimination faced by excluded groups is often more socially and historically embedded.
Clear policies backed up by long-term commitment (often driven by specific political projects) emerge as the basis for effective action. Other significant positive elements from the case studies include using widely communicated and clear legally based guarantees (India); and building information systems that enable the excluded to be reached (Pakistan and Brazil) and enable accountability in delivery to be verified.
The post-2015 agenda can help establish global norms which will support and encourage mobilisation to tackle intersecting inequalities, including a strong commitment to universal quality basic services, and the development of country-specific frameworks of targets and indicators monitoring intersecting inequalities.
