From climate change and the war in Ukraine to working conditions and health, women globally are worse off than men in various aspects of life. Without making the necessary investments to turn the tide, gender disparities will only become more visible.
Achieving full gender equality is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for which the deadline is just eight years away. However, without making the necessary investment, gender equality will take nearly 300 years to realise, a recent report published by the United Nations showed.
“It is critical that we rally now to invest in women and girls to reclaim and accelerate progress. The data show undeniable regressions in their lives made worse by the global crises. The longer we take to reverse this trend, the more it will cost us all," said Sima Bahous, Executive Director at UN Women.
Bahous stressed that the world has come to a tipping point for women’s rights and gender equality "as we approach the halfway mark to 2030."
Global crises driving gender disparities
Many countries are not expected to meet SDG5 (Gender Equality) by the 2030 deadline as gender disparities are worsening in the face of “cascading” global crises, from violent conflict which puts women and girls at increased risk of sexual violence, to the pandemic, which saw women lose roughly $800 billion in income.
In 2022, the disparities are especially damning, as they were coupled with the backlash against women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United States, triggering worries for these rights in other parts of the world.
The report warns that at the current rate of progress, it will take up to 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws, 140 years for women to achieve equal representation in workplace leadership positions, and 40 years for the same to happen in national parliaments.
To eradicate child marriage by 2030, progress will have to be 17 times faster than in the last decade.
"Without swift action, legal systems that do not ban violence against women, or protect their rights in marriage and family, may continue to exist for generations to come," the report read.
