November 19, 2024
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See how close we are to gender equality around the world
UN statistics show progress towards gender equality goals, but there is a long way to go
Around the world, women and girls continue to be exposed to unfair discrimination, poverty, violence, and disadvantages such as lack of access to education, health care, and property ownership. Each year, the United Nations agencies UN Women and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs track progress towards gender equality around the world. The project is one of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals that all United Nations member states have agreed to achieve by 2030. This includes government questionnaires and household surveys, as well as surveys from other agencies such as the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The report highlights several important achievements. These include a decline in child marriage, a slight increase in the proportion of women in parliament and local government, and 56 legal reforms enacted since 2019 to close the gender gap. “There has been progress to celebrate,” he said. Papa Sek, Head of Research and Data at UN Women, said: “But that progress alone will not be enough to get us where we want to be by 2030. Much more can and should be done.”At the current pace of progress, gender parity in Congress will reach by 2063. child marriage will continue until 2092, and it will take 137 years to end extreme poverty for women.
Goal 5
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Achieving gender equality, Goal 5, is one of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Others include ending poverty (Goal 1), ending hunger (Goal 2) and ensuring education for all (Goal 4). All goals are related, and many goals overlap. For example, achieving gender equality includes ending poverty and hunger and increasing access to education for women. Goal 5 includes nine goals and 14 indicators.