Tannuka Juneja
UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) presented a joint report stating the sad fact that by 2030, as planned, SDG 5, declaring gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, will not be achieved.
The authors of the report estimate that it will take up to 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and repeal discriminatory laws. It will take 140 years for women to be equally represented as men in leadership positions in government and business. And at least 40 years at the current pace of development will take the process of achieving equal representation in national parliaments. And in order to eradicate the practice of child marriage by 2030, we need to act 17 times faster.
“This is a tipping point for women’s rights and gender equality as we approach the halfway mark to 2030,” said Sima Bahous, Executive Director at UN Women.
“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 – in incomes, safety, education and health. The longer we take to reverse this trend, the more it will cost us all.”
The current state of the global economy is not encouraging: by the end of 2022, some 383 million women and girls will be living in extreme poverty. And if the trend continues, one of the world’s most gender-poor regions, sub-Saharan Africa, will have more women and girls living in poverty by 2030 than today.
In addition to housekeeping, women also take care of children and the elderly. During the pandemic, this burden has increased significantly, with a total of 672 billion hours of additional unpaid childcare required in 2020 due to school and preschool closures.
Also in 2020, women lost about $800 billion in income due to the pandemic, and despite a subsequent recovery, their share of labor markets in 2022 is projected to be lower than before the pandemic (50.8 percent compared to 51.8 percent in 2019).
The world is experiencing the highest number of armed conflicts since World War II. More women and girls have been forcibly displaced than ever before, with some 44 million women and girls forced from their homes by the end of 2021.
Also in 2020, women lost about $800 billion in income due to the pandemic, and despite a subsequent recovery, their share of labor markets in 2022 is projected to be lower than before the pandemic (50.8 percent compared to 51.8 percent in 2019).
The world is experiencing the highest number of armed conflicts since World War II. More women and girls have been forcibly displaced than ever before, with some 44 million women and girls forced from their homes by the end of 2021.
“Cascading global crises are putting the achievement of the SDGs in jeopardy, with the world’s most vulnerable population groups disproportionately impacted, in particular women and girls. Gender equality is a foundation for achieving all SDGs and it should be at the heart of building back better,” said Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, an Assistant Secretary-General at UN DESA.
The UN notes; that urgent action is needed to change legal systems that do not prohibit violence against women, do not protect women’s rights in marriage and the family, or deny women their right to pass on their citizenship to children, do not provide them with equal pay and benefits at work, do not guarantee their equal rights to own property. If change is not made now, many generations of people will live under such legal systems.
