Overview

Violent conflict, displacement, the growing climate emergency, the repercussions of the global pandemic, and vocal anti-feminist movements have reversed generational gains in women’s rights. We need to fix the systems and structures that are currently preventing progress and reverse the regressive social norms that are pushing back women’s rights and limiting their full and meaningful participation.

  1. Accelerating action on gender equality

    Gender equality is critical to realizing all the SDGs, yet progress remains unacceptably slow. Humanity’s future demands that we urgently fix the multitudinous factors blocking women and girls from achieving their potential

    Sima Bahous
  2. Always on the frontline in every crisis

    When crises strike, women and girls consistently suffer disproportionately. We need urgent, systemic change to ensure that gender equality is at the center of crisis response

    Silke Staab, Constanza Tabbush, Laura Turquet

Cross-cutting themes

  1. Data on gender: seeing the true picture

    We will only fully understand the inequality experienced by women, girls, and other vulnerable groups if we collect the data. Despite recent progress, much of the gender-disaggregated data needed is still missing

    Papa Alioune B. Seck, Jessamyn Encarnacion, Rea Jean Tabaco, Ramya Emandi

    SDGs: 5 10

  2. Equality depends on reproductive rights

    Campaigns to remove reproductive rights from women will prevent their full participation in society and the economy. Without women’s freedom to choose how and when to have children, there cannot be gender equality

    Caroline Fredrickson

Protection

  1. Poverty is not gender-neutral

    As with most threats to well-being, poverty has an accentuated impact on women. Tackling this requires integrated action on several fronts to address the systemic inequalities women face across the world today

    Ginette Azcona, Antra Bhatt
  2. The lack of gender targets for clean energy is harming women and girls

    Gender inequalities in energy access are substantial but largely unmeasured. SDG 7 – affordable and clean energy – is one of six SDGs without gender-specific indicators. Clean and safe energy is a prerequisite for achieving all the social and economic SDGs, and SDG 5 – gender equality – will only be achieved if a more targeted approach is adopted on energy

    Elizabeth Cecelski, Sheila Oparaocha
  3. Gender and sanitation: more than just a toilet

    Over a billion women and girls worldwide lack safe and adequate sanitation. Addressing this fundamental human right offers a unique chance to both address poor sanitation and foster gender equality

    Jess MacArthur
  4. Tackling online violence against women

    Digital platforms offer powerful spaces for female voices. But online violence and abuse against women have also grown massively, and will only worsen without urgent action

    Ingrid Beck

Equal rights

  1. Effective laws to achieve equality for women

    The law is a critical enabler to empower women and challenge the status quo. While changing legislation is rarely straightforward or without resistance, there are encouraging signs that more countries are embedding women’s rights into national laws – others must follow suit

    Janani Shanthosh
  2. Women’s participation in law

    The legal profession remains stubbornly male-dominated, with women lawyers often facing discrimination, disempowerment, and abuse. It needs urgent reform, led by women, if it’s to equitably serve all citizens for whom it seeks to provide justice

    Melissa Upreti
  3. Securing women’s property rights

    With just seven years until the 2030 deadline, millions of women across the globe continue to be denied the right to own and control land and property, despite the clear benefits it brings to them, their families and communities. To end this economic abuse, we urgently need more women in positions of leadership

    Rachel Boketa, Stephanie Siddall

    SDGs: 5 16

  4. Repression of women is blocking the SDGs

    The “shadow pandemic” of violence against women and girls shows little sign of abating. Tackling this global scourge calls for far more effective joining up of individual measures, embedding gender equality throughout all 17 SDGs

    Reem Alsalem

Empowerment

  1. A level field for jobs: achieving gender equality in the workplace

    Jurisdictions that on the face of it have rigorous anti-discrimination legislation still consistently fail to pay women fairly or have fair representation at senior levels. Fixing this calls for transformative action on several fronts – from challenging entrenched social norms to game-changing investments in social protection

    Chidi King
  2. Toward women’s economic empowerment in MENA

    While tentative steps are being made across the region, reforms must go further and faster – from improving maternity provision to training more women in jobs traditionally reserved for men

    Valentine M. Moghadam
  3. Getting more women in politics

    Just one in four parliamentarians today are women. Yet, as responses to recent crises have shown, countries with more gender balance among their politicians often fare better than those dominated by men. How do we achieve genuine gender equality in politics?

    Lesia Vasylenko