Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council
Nearly a decade since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 dedicated to achieving gender equality and empowerment of women and girls “remains the most off-track”, speakers told a United Nations high-level political forum today, calling for reinforced measures to accelerate progress against a tide of backsliding rights and opportunities.
The first of two daily panels addressed “SDG 5 and interlinkages with other SDGs — Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”, with Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), warning that at the current pace, true gender equality in economic life, leadership and safety will remain generations away. “That is unacceptable,” she stressed.
With the growing erosion of rights, she called for a “push forward against the pushback” with investment in women and youth-led organizations and tackling misogyny head-on, be it online or off. Further, societies must invest in robust gender data systems that track real impact, ensure follow-up and address intersecting inequalities. “What gets measured, gets done,” she stated.
Offering concrete proposals, she urged stakeholders to work with Governments to advance nationally-owned development priorities. A whole-of-Government, whole-of-society approach is needed, as gender equality cannot be the remit of one ministry or one actor. Investment in care systems is critical, as unpaid care limits women’s full participation in economic and public life. Further, the UN80 initiative — a unique opportunity to make the UN more effective, efficient and impactful for women and girls — can help propel gender equality forward, ensuring enhanced regional and cross-regional coordination and increasing efficiency.
“A girl born today would see gender equality achieved in her ninety-seventh year” warned Albert Motivans, Head of Data and Insights at Equal Measures 2030 — a coalition of civil society organizations. The backslide is being driven by numerous factors including a resource crunch, with less international financing, domestic austerity measures and declining household incomes. He further highlighted a “democracy crunch”, as gender equality is closely linked with democracy, while its foundations worldwide are at risk due to rising economic inequality, social and political polarization, and the closing of civic space. Additionally, the “safety and security crunch” of rising conflict and militarization impacts women and girls in their choices and their personal safety.
He called for elevating women’s and girls’ leadership, power and voices — noting the progress in parliamentary participation at 27 per cent. Further, it is important to reform and adopt equality laws and policies to engage Governments and the wider public, and close gender-sensitive data gaps, with increased investment in public services and social infrastructure, including care.
Further, “there is unequal access to education for women all over the world”, said Zara Khanna, Youth Ambassador for She Loves Tech, citing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered learning programmes as a “key tool to aid us in bridging the divide”. They can approach students on an individual level, offering personalized feedback, which is especially important for those who face cultural and other barriers to gaining an education. She spotlighted Khan Academy — a free AI-powered personalized tutor that offers a range of subjects, from English to math, or Rori, which was piloted in Ghana and is available on all mobile devices, as it operates via WhatsApp. This is especially important, given that mobile penetration is extremely high; while 129 million girls lack access to education, 4.9 billion people worldwide have access to smartphones.
Outlining solutions, she underscored the need to accelerate connectivity by distributing more Internet hotspots. One single hotspot can power a village, and hundreds of girls can gain access to the wealth of knowledge available online. Additionally, more devices, such as smartphones and tablets, shall be distributed, so girls can access this knowledge. She underscored that Governments must invest in creating culture and language-specific AI-powered programmes to cater to the job markets that these girls will be entering. Through early science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) intervention, mentorship programmes and more gender-neutral language, “we can all move together to reach SDG 5 by 2030” and “a more gender-neutral future”.
Echoing those comments, Ms. Bahous cited the launch of the Beijing+30 Action Agenda, focused on six critical areas: digital inclusion, freedom from poverty, zero violence, leadership, peace and security, and climate justice. Cutting across these areas is engagement with young women and youth. “These are not distant goals,” she stated. “They are urgent demands from women and girls around the world”.
Mr. Motivans also emphasized the importance of reinforcing the use of national and global gender data like those in the Equal Measures SDG Gender Index. “But it’s not just to measure, it’s not just to count”, he said, noting the importance of evaluating not only the status of women and girls, but their impact on societies. Data can identify blocks to progress and gaps in various Goals, unpaid care and reproductive rights.
Recalling progress in countries implementing anti-discrimination laws, he noted that “Governments do that well” — but the next step requires ensuring that “equal opportunities for women and men” are met, as this is where countries may fall short. He called for mobilizing a society-wide range of partners, developing value propositions to engage those working on the ground with expert knowledge of the issues faced by women and girls.
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