Over Two Billion Girls & Women Lack Social Protection Globally, Shocking Report Reveals

According to a recent report by the United Nations Women, women and girls worldwide are experiencing a widening gap in cash benefits, unemployment protection, pensions, and healthcare. The report, published on the occasion of the 'International Day for the Eradication of Poverty' on 17 October, revealed that at least two billion women and girls globally are disproportionately vulnerable to poverty as they have no access to basic resources that facilitate social protection. 

The report titled Harnessing Social Protection for Gender Equality, Resilience and Transformation aims to demonstrate the role of women in development. It is presented every five years to the Economic and Financial Committee of the United Nations General Assembly.

Staggering Number Of Women Vulnerable To Poverty

The United Nations report revealed that women make up a majority of the world's poor, underscoring the disparities in safety nets, unpaid care work, and employment opportunities. This gap is particularly wide among women in their childbearing years. Women aged 25-34 are 25% more likely to live in extremely poor households than men in the same age group.

"Even where women are relatively well covered, benefit levels remain inadequate. Provisions are not
consistently attuned to their rights and needs," the report reads. Climate change and conflict are some of the biggest contributors to this disparity. Women in what are termed "fragile contexts" are reportedly 7.7 times more likely to live in extreme poverty.

Aftermath Of Crises

Whether monetary global crises or natural calamities, the aftermath of shocks has a significant impact on women, yet often goes unaddressed. For example, high inflation since 2022 has led to spiralling food and energy prices. Yet, out of nearly 1,000 social protection measures adopted by governments across 171 countries, only 18% targeted women’s economic security, the UN report reveals.

Sarah Hendriks, Director of the Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division at UN Women, noted, "The potential of social protection for gender equality, resilience and transformation is enormous. To harness this, we need to centre the dignity, agency and empowerment of women and girls at every stage of the process – from policy and programme design to delivery and financing."

Social protection systems for gender equality, resilience, and transformation depend on the availability of adequate resources. Currently, the social protection expenditure worldwide remains insufficient, which is disproportionately affecting women in low- and middle-income countries. The latest UN Women report shows that financing gaps are significant but not insurmountable. 

Maternal, Post-Natal Healthcare Gap: Findings From 2023 Report 

Another October 2023 report by the United Nations agencies; the World Health Organization, the UN Children’s Fund and their partners; the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, estimated that approximately 13.4 million infants were born prematurely in 2020.

The paper's, national, regional, and global estimates of preterm birth in 2020, with trends from 2010: a systematic analysis, revealed that nearly one million of these premature babies lost their lives due to complications arising from being born prematurely.

As revealed by the report, the data indicates that roughly 1 in 10 babies worldwide were delivered prematurely, before completing 37 weeks of pregnancy. Health experts attribute these high numbers to issues such as inadequate maternal health and malnutrition.

The paper offers worldwide, regional, and national approximations and patterns concerning preterm births from 2010 to 2020, exposing significant variations among different regions and countries.

Approximately 65% of premature births in 2020 took place in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, where more than 13% of infants were born prematurely. In the most heavily impacted nations like Bangladesh, Malawi, and Pakistan, the rates were three to four times greater than those observed in the least affected countries such as Serbia, Moldova, and Kazakhstan.

Apart from the chances of death, premature birth also substantially raises the chances of experiencing severe health problems, disabilities, and developmental delays, and can even lead to chronic diseases in adulthood, such as diabetes and heart conditions.

Other Findings

The issue of preterm birth is not confined solely to low and middle-income nations; data pointed towards its impact on families worldwide. Some high-income countries, such as Greece and the United States of America, have preterm birth rates of 10% or higher.

Similar to other significant trends related to maternal health, no region across the globe has made substantial progress in reducing preterm birth rates over the past decade. The annual global rate of decrease in preterm births between 2010 and 2020 stood at just 0.14%.

Preterm births are closely associated with maternal health risks, including adolescent pregnancy, infections, inadequate nutrition, and pre-eclampsia. The provision of high-quality antenatal care is crucial for identifying and managing complications, ensuring accurate pregnancy dating through early ultrasound scans, and, if necessary, postponing labour using approved treatments.

While the prevalence of preterm birth has improved with the increased registration of births and facility-based deliveries, gaps persist. Notably, 92 countries lack sufficient nationally representative data on this issue.