Gender discrimination is still embedded in societies and institutions, beginning in governance, a new UN Women report finds.

By Naureen Hossain

Girls and women worldwide are facing growing threats to their security and rights, from threats to their education access to severe poverty and multiple forms of violence. In 2024, nearly one in four governments worldwide reported a backlash to women’s rights, as a new report from UN Women reveals.

The report, Women’s Rights in Review 30 Years After Beijing, acknowledges that serious efforts have been made toward gender equality and women’s empowerment.

In the past five years, 88 per cent of countries have passed laws to eliminate violence against women and girls. 44 per cent are working towards improving the quality of education and training. More girls are now attending secondary and tertiary education compared to boys.

The report reviews the state of women’s rights since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995. Since its conception, the Beijing Platform for Action remains one of the most comprehensive roadmaps on women’s rights for countries to follow. Thirty years later, it is critical to take stock of the progress toward parity and where significant work is needed. The report highlights where these gaps persist.

Gender discrimination is still embedded in societies and institutions, beginning in governance. While women’s political participation in parliaments has vastly increased since 1995, they still only account for one in four elected parliamentarians. Only 87 countries have ever had a woman leader. Men still occupy a majority of leadership and decision-making positions.

Shrinking civic spaces are also affecting women’s participation and advocacy. This should be of concern when governments make decisions that undercut participation in civil society, such as through underfunding.

Regression in gender equality

Without robust and gender-responsive social protections, vulnerable people can fall through the cracks. Women and girls are more likely to be at risk for poverty or to experience it, as evidenced in 2023, where 2 billion women and girls had no social protection coverage. In 2024, 393 million women and girls were living in extreme poverty.

When it comes to digital technology, the number of women using the internet increased from 50 per cent in 2019 to 65 per cent in 2024. Yet, 277 million more men had access to the internet than women. Even with this disparity, women are more likely to be targets of online harassment and violence, the nature of which is much more targeted and gendered. Legal frameworks still fall behind in addressing the prevalence of online violence, especially in the face of emerging technologies and their misuse.

Countries dealing with major crises or conflicts also see a regression in gender equality. It is rare for women to play a direct role in the peace process as mediators, even after the Beijing Platform for Action clarified that they were integral in the promotion of peace and security. As of 2023, women only made up 10 per cent of negotiators and 14 per cent of mediators.

Back-to-back protracted issues such as ongoing conflicts, the climate crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic have only exacerbated inequalities for women and girls. In democratic institutions, anti-rights groups have loudly and publicly rallied together to undermine key women’s issues, including reproductive health rights.

Prioritize gender equality

While there is still time, countries and communities must prioritize gender equality in their national strategies. To that end, the report also presents the Beijing+30 Action Agenda, which is comprised of six key actions that countries should take to make faster strides towards the commitments. The Action Agenda outlines the following actions:

• A digital revolution for all women and girls: Ensuring that women and girls not only have equal access to technology but also have the skills to navigate it and online spaces securely.
• Freedom from poverty: Investing in comprehensive social protection, universal health coverage, education, and care services is needed for women and girls to thrive and can create millions of decent jobs.
• Zero violence: Achieving this through the implementation and funding of legislation to end violence against women and girls in all forms, with strong plans and resources available through community-led organizations to extend the reach of services.
• Full and equal decision-making power: Increasing and ensuring women’s decision-making power in public and private sectors through temporary special measures like gender quotas.
• Peace and security: Gender-responsive humanitarian aid and national plans that center on women, peace, and security. This must also include sustained funding for frontline women’s organizations to help build lasting peace.
• Climate justice: Countries need to prioritize women’s and girls’ rights in their climate adaptation plans. Including those from rural and indigenous communities should serve to center their leadership and knowledge and gain access to new ‘green jobs,’ productive assets, and land rights.

While countries may signal their commitments to gender equality through adopting gender-responsive and inclusive policies, without follow-through and proper funding, they may have little impact in the long term.

Critical opportunity

Along with the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, this year will also mark the UN’s 50th anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8. The upcoming Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) will also be a critical opportunity for governments, civil society, the private sector, and other stakeholders to make strong commitments in enshrining the Action Agenda, along with the principles that are the foundation of the original Beijing Platform for Action.

“UN Women is committed to ensuring that ALL women and girls, everywhere, can fully enjoy their rights and freedoms,” said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous. “Complex challenges stand in the way of gender equality and women’s empowerment, but we remain steadfast, pushing forward with ambition and resolve. Women and girls are demanding change—and they deserve nothing less.”

This report has been sourced from Inter Press Service.