Gender Equality: 2030 global goal may not be met — Report

A United Nations (UN) Women’s report has said that the world is falling short of achieving gender equality by 2030, calling for immediate global action to address the gaps.

According to the 36-page report launched on Monday, titled: “Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2024,” discriminatory laws and structural barriers are hindering progress, particularly in areas such as gender-responsive laws, policies and budget.

“Unless progress rapidly accelerates, the global community will fall short of achieving gender equality by 2030. Overall progress is insufficient, particularly given lags on structural issues such as gender-responsive laws, policies and budgets,” the report said.

“Social norms continue to perpetuate discrimination, preventing women from gaining an equal footing with men.”

The international agency highlights gaps that should be addressed before the 2030 deadline for the SDGs, adding that the world still needs to catch up to its commitments to women and girls.

The report also shows significant progress worldwide on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

The publication is the latest edition in an annual series produced by UN Women and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. It is a snapshot of gender equality across the 17 SDGs.

Key challenges

According to the report, despite significant declines in recent decades, some of the key challenges hindering gender equality globally include pervasive violence against women and harmful practices like child marriage and female genital mutilation

The report also identified insufficient data on SDG goal five (gender equality) thereby rendering women’s experiences invisible in decision-making and policies.

The report also found that women and girls spend 250 million hours per day on water collection, over three times more than men and boys.

Not all gloomy

Meanwhile, it is not all gloomy, as the report identifies that “there are some points of light. They include declining poverty, narrowing of gender gaps in education, and a push for positive legal reforms.

“Yet, just six years before the 2030 deadline for the SDGs, not a single indicator under Goal 5, gender equality, has been fully achieved.”

Speaking more on gender inequality, the report said, “No country has all relevant laws to prohibit discrimination, prevent gender-based violence, uphold equal rights in marriage and divorce, guarantee equal pay, and provide full access to sexual and reproductive health.”

Other areas

On extreme poverty, the UN report said it would take an additional 137 years, at the current rate of change, to end the scourge.

The report proffered gender-responsive social protection as a solution to minimise female poverty.

According to the report, child marriage “will only end in 2097” and gender parity in parliaments may not be reached before 2063.

The report stresses the “high cost of not investing in women’s rights and calls attention to proven solutions that benefit women, girls, and entire societies.

“It champions radical action to shift the current trajectory and dramatically accelerate progress on gender equality and women’s rights.”

As the world leaders prepare for the Submit of the Future on 22-23 September, the report urged a renewed international general agreement to close the gender gap and advance the rights and empowerment of women and girls.

Gender equality in Nigeria

Gender parity is a struggle in Nigeria. In his inaugural speech in 2023, President Bola Tinubu promised to feature women “prominently” in his administration.

However, he has only achieved five per cent gender inclusion in his first year.

This is despite a two-year old landmark judgement ordering the Nigerian government to implement the National Gender Policy by alloting 35 per cent appointment in the public sector to women.

Lately, there has been an increase in gender-based increase in sexual and gender-based violence.

Lagos, for instance, recorded 24,009 cases of gender-based violence in the last five years between January 2019 and December 2023.

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Also, in the Northern part of the country, the Salama Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Kafanchan, Kaduna State recorded 3,977 cases of sexual and gender-based violence since its inception in 2019.

A civil society, DOHS Cares, recently marched to the Lagos State House of Assembly to demand legislation against femicide — the intentional killing of a woman because of her gender.