NEWS
UN Says World is ‘Failing’ Goal of Achieving Gender Equality by 2030
Courtesy of unitednations/Instagram
In a report Thursday, the United Nations said the goal of achieving global gender equality by 2030 appears impossible due to “active resistance” and “chronic under-investment.”
“The world is failing to achieve gender equality, making it an increasingly distant goal,” U.N. Women said in a statement announcing “The Gender Snapshot 2023” report, which was published by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (U.N. Women) and the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
“The gender gap in power and leadership positions remains entrenched, and, at the current rate of progress, the next generation of women will still spend on average 2.3 more hours per day on unpaid care and domestic work than men,” the agency said. “No country is within reach of eradicating intimate partner violence, and women’s share of workplace management positions will remain below parity even by 2050.”
U.N. Women said that “fair progress” has been made in girls’ education, but that completion rates are still lagging.
The agency also said that the increasing impacts of climate change are worsening the economic outlook for women and girls.
“If current trends continue, more than 340 million women and girls will still live in extreme poverty by 2030, and close to one in four will experience moderate or severe food insecurity. Growing vulnerability brought on by human-induced climate change is likely to worsen this outlook, as many as 236 million more women and girls will be food-insecure under a worst-case climate scenario,” the agency said.
“The inability of women to have equal access to education and opportunity hampers their long-term financial prospects, putting them at a severe disadvantage later in life because they live longer than men yet earn less. In effect, women are forced to do more with less and survive longer than their male counterparts,” said Bradley Schurman, founder and CEO of the demographic strategy firm, The Super Age, which helps public and private-sector organizations navigate disruptive population change.
“There are bright spots though, including in major cities where the gap is closing. However, the global prospect remains grim,” Schurman said.
Among the 120 countries analyzed, only 41 were found to have met, almost met or be close to meeting their targets on gender equality, according to the report.
Sixty-seven countries have no laws prohibiting discrimination against women, and 28 have no laws granting women equal rights in marriage and divorce.
Women hold only 26.7% of seats in national governments globally, according to the report, and only 35.5% of seats in local governments. At work, women hold only 28.2% of management positions.
The U.N. is calling for more government funding across 48 developing nations, to achieve gender equality in ending hunger and poverty, and to support women’s participation in society. The agency said $6.4 trillion per year is need to achieve those goals, and at current spending levels, there will be an annual shortfall of $360 billion.
TMX contributed to this article.
