Equal opportunities favor inclusion.
Equality of opportunities is a concept that means that all individuals must have the same possibilities for development and access to well-being . It is a notion that is associated with the idea of social justice .
When a person is born, their chances of progress depend largely on their social context : growing up in a home without drinking water and not attending school is not the same as living in a house with comforts and taking classes in a bilingual school. For equivalent efforts, the results will most likely be very different.
The promotion of equal opportunities ideally aims for each human being to start from the same point or the same line. Only in this way is it possible for progress to be directly associated with individual merits .
Equal opportunities and social justice
Social justice is a value that is frequently mentioned in politics and sociology . It is linked to both equal opportunities and income distribution , the promotion of labor rights and the implementation of the welfare state .
Within the framework of the search for social justice, political activity and state management are expected to guarantee equity among citizens, mitigating or reversing the imbalances that exist in society. Equality of opportunities, in this framework, is an unavoidable piece for building a fairer community.
It is estimated that the precept of social justice emerged around the 18th century . Since then, different views on the matter have been made known, although the concept has always occupied a place of relevance in the political debate.
Public policies that pursue poverty reduction usually seek equal opportunities and sustainable development.
Access to different public services
Access to different public services is the key to equal opportunities. Before continuing, it is important to indicate that public service is understood as a provision essential for well-being, which must be available to all subjects regardless of their economic situation.
Equality of opportunity, therefore, is often translated as equal access to certain services and goods . No citizen can develop without access to education, access to health care, access to employment , access to housing, access to public transportation or access to justice, for example.
The State generally attempts to democratize or universalize this accessibility in various ways. The construction of hospitals and public schools is oriented in this direction, as are housing and employment plans and subsidies for public transportation. The intention, at least in theory, is that no person is left without access to these issues because they do not have money or because they live in a certain area.
Equal opportunities are also promoted through the activism of social movements, NGOs and human rights organizations.
Equality of opportunities linked to gender
Equality of opportunities linked to gender has to do with non- discrimination based precisely on gender issues. On the one hand, it is linked to women's rights and female empowerment , but it is also linked to the rights of all people regardless of their gender identity and sexual orientation.
The implementation of gender quotas in the State is one of the most common mechanisms to promote this equality of opportunities. This goal is also being worked on through anti-discrimination legislation , authorizing equal marriage and adoption by same-sex couples, to mention two possibilities.
Another State action in favor of equal opportunities in terms of gender is the development of awareness campaigns . In this way it is intended to sow tolerance and respect .
The importance of training
The importance of training is enormous to get closer to the ideal of equal opportunities. At an early age, literacy must be guaranteed through free education and then it must contribute to the development of skills at different educational levels and even in vocational training .
Job training , in fact, is unavoidable for access to work and to reduce the wage gap, as well as to favor the birth of productive enterprises.
The higher the educational level, the greater the opportunities to progress in the world of work. Today, the usual thing is that completing secondary education is not enough to access a well-paid job: specialized knowledge is needed, whether technical, language, etc. That is why the State must be present to grant scholarships and financial aid to those who want to train but do not have the resources to do so.
Although educational equality is a utopia, even because individuals have different interests and abilities, what must be equalized are the opportunities to study and learn. This path is necessary for the advancement of society as a whole and even for the economic growth of the nation.