The United Nations has issued a stark warning about the state of gender equality in the world, highlighting a range of issues from poverty and education access to political representation and economic opportunities, where progress has been lacking.
The UN Women's report, 'Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2023,' released yesterday, September 7, evaluated the advancement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the UN's members in 2015 with the aim of creating a better world for all by 2030.
What Does The Report Say?
The findings of the review are disheartening. According to Sarah Hendriks, the Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, "When we analyze the data, it appears that the world is not making progress toward achieving gender equality. It's becoming an increasingly distant goal."
The specific goal centred on gender equality aimed to eliminate gender discrimination, violence against women, forced marriages, and genital mutilation by the end of the decade. It also sought to promote gender balance in domestic work, ensure access to reproductive healthcare, and enhance women's participation in political and economic spheres.
However, the report sounds an alarm that halfway to 2030, the world is failing women and girls, with most of the goal's targets lagging behind. Disturbing statistics include the fact that 245 million women aged 15 and older experience physical violence by their partners each year, one in five women are married before turning 18, women spend 2.8 more hours daily on unpaid housework than men, and only 26.7% of lawmakers worldwide are women.
The UN Women Agency estimates that addressing these issues would require an additional investment of around $360 billion per year in 50 developing countries, representing roughly 70% of the global population.
According to Hendriks, this funding would be essential to advance the entire SDG agenda and change the trajectory by placing women and girls at the centre through strengthened mutual accountability.
United Nations Concerns
In July, the UN expressed concerns about the overall status of the SDGs, stating they are in jeopardy and calling for a rescue plan ahead of a summit scheduled for September 18 and 19.
According to the UN Women report, many global development goals are even less favourable for women compared to the overall population. For instance, at the current rate, it is projected that 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty by 2030, falling far short of the UN's goal of eradication. Of these, 342 million will be women, roughly 8% of the global female population.
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