In 2015, UN Member States adopted the Sustainable Development Agenda, which included a deadline for achieving gender parity and empowering all women and girls by the year 2030. Unfortunately, the world is running out of time to meet this goal with 2030  only nine years away. “This is a tipping point for women’s rights and gender equality as we approach the half-way mark to 2030,” said Sima Bahous, Executive Director at UN Women. “At the rate things are going, it will take another 286 years to change the laws to promote, enforce, and keep an eye on gender equality in public life.

According to the report, more than 1 in 10 (15–49-year-old) women and girls were sexually and/or physically abused by an intimate partner in the past year. For any hope of ending child marriage by 2030, things need to move 17 times faster than they did in the last 10 years.

The 2030 goals may not be reached because of "cascading" global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, violent conflict, and climate change, as well as the backlash against women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, which is making gender differences deeper. The delay in taking action could mean that legal systems that do not prohibit violence against women or protect their rights in marriage and family may survive for generations to come. "We need to work together right now to invest in women and girls if we want to regain and speed up progress. Global crises have made women's and girls’ lives worse in many ways, including their income, safety, education, and health. Bahous said, "The longer we wait to stop this trend, the more it will cost us all."  The Gender Snapshot 2022 report shows how important it is to work together, make partnerships, and invest to get the world back on track.

By: Baniz Wasman