The world is withdrawing from gender equality, and the cost is counted in lives, rights and opportunities. Five years from the deadline for sustainable development objectives (SDG) in 2030, none of the gender equality objectives is on their way.
That is according to the SDG Gender Instantaneous Report of this year launched on Monday by the UN women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which is based on more than 100 data sources to trace progress in the 17 objectives.
World at a crossroads
2025 marks three main milestones for women and girls: the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and the Action Platform, the 25th Anniversary of Resolution 1325 of the United Nations Security Council on Women, Peace and Security, and 80th United Nations Anniversary.
But with the new sobering data, it is urgent to accelerate action and investment.
Other findings in the report reveal that female poverty has barely changed in half decade, trapped by around 10 percent since 2020. Most of those affected live in sub -Saharan Africa and Central and South Asia.
A two -year -old girl who suffers from malnutrition is fed by her mother in her refuge in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Conflict magnifying the crisis
Only in 2024, 676 million women and girls lived within reach of the mortal conflict, the highest number since the 1990s.
For those trapped in war areas, the consequences extend far beyond displacement. Food insecurity, health and violence risks increase considerably, the report points out.
Violence against women and girls remains one of the most widespread threats. More than one in eight women around the world experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of a couple in the last year, while almost one in five young women married before the age of 18. Every year, approximately four million girls undergo a female genital mutilation, with more than half cut before their fifth birthday.
Prioritize gender equality
However, in the midst of gloomy statistics, the report highlights what is possible when countries prioritize gender equality. Maternal mortality has fallen almost 40 percent since 2000, and girls now are more likely to finish school.
Talking with UN new UNS, Sarah Hendriks, director of the UN Women’s Policies Division, said that when Zimbabwe was moved for the first time in 1997, “giving birth was actually a matter of life and death.”
“Today, that is no longer reality. And that is an incredible level of progress in a short term of 25, 30 years,” he added.
Close the gender digital division
Technology is also promising. Today, 70 percent of men are online compared to 65 percent of women. Close that gap, estimates the report, could benefit 343.5 million women and girls for 2050, raising 30 million poverty and adding $ 1.5 billion to the global economy by 2030.
“When gender equality has been prioritized, it has promoted societies and economies forward,” said Sima Bahous, executive director of UN women. “Specific investments in gender equality have the power to transform societies and economies.”
At the same time, an unprecedented reaction on women’s rights, the reduction of civic space and the growing defundimency of gender equality initiatives are threatening hard profits.
According to UN women, without action, women remain “invisible” in data and policy formulation, with 25 percent less gender data available now due to survey fund cuts.
A girl uses a tablet during class at her school in Safi, South Niger.
“The 2025 gender snapshot shows that the costs of failure are immense, but so are the profits of gender equality,” said Li Junhua, Undersecretary General of the United Nations for economic and social matters.
“Accelerated action and interventions focused on attention, education, green economy, labor markets and social protection could reduce the number of women and girls in extreme poverty by 110 million by 2050, unlocking approximately $ 342 billion in cumulative economic yields.”
Urgent choice
But progress remains unequal and often painfully slow.
Women have only 27.2 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide, and their representation in local governments has stagnated at 35.5 percent. In management, women occupy only 30 percent of roles, and this rhythm, true parity is almost a century away.
Marking 30 years from the Beijing platform for action, the 2025 frame report as a moment of calculation.
“Gender equality is not an ideology,” he warns. “It is essential for peace, development and human rights.”
Before the UN high -level week, the gender snapshot report makes it clear that the choice is urgent: invest in women and girls now, or risk losing another generation of progress.
Mrs. Hendriks shared the message of UN women for world leaders: “Change is absolutely possible, and a different route is in front of us, but it is not inevitable, and requires political will, as well as the determined resolution of governments throughout the world to make gender equality, the rights of women and their taxation a reality once and for all.”
Anchored on the Beijing+30 Action Agenda, the report identifies six priority areas in which an accelerated urgent action is needed to achieve gender equality for all women and girls by 2030, which include a digital revolution, freedom of poverty, zero violence, total and egalitarian decision -making power, peace and climate justice.