IWD: Gender equality ‘lagging’ & hard-fought gains ‘under threat’

Today on 8^th March, on International Women’s Day, millions of women take part in marches and demonstrations worldwide to fight for equality. While, some progress has undoubtedly been made, many believe that it’s still far too slow. In fact, according to the UN’s latest report, gender equality is ‘lagging’ and ‘hard-fought’ gains are actually ‘under threat’. 

The UN’s most recent report, Women’s Rights in Review 25 years after Beijing, warns that progress towards gender equality is faltering and hard-won advances are being reversed. Rampant inequality, the climate emergency, conflict and the alarming rise of exclusionary politics all threaten future progress towards gender equality. 

The report flags the lack of effective action to boost women’s representation at the tables of power, and warns that the vision of the Beijing Platform for Action will never be realised if the most excluded women and girls are not acknowledged and prioritised. Aligned with 2020 theme, I am Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights, the report calls for action to achieve gender equality and justice for this generation, 25 years after the Beijing Platform for Action.

ONLY EQUAL IS ENOUGH

“The review of women’s rights shows that, despite some progress, no country has achieved gender equality. Equality isn’t just one quarter of the seats at the tables of power. But that’s the current reality of women’s representation, across the board. Men are 75% of parliamentarians, hold 73% of managerial positions, are 70% of climate negotiators and almost all of the peacemakers,” stated UN Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

“This is not an inclusive and equal world, and we need to take action now to create one that does not discriminate against women. Only half is an equal share and only equal is enough,” she adds.

Despite unprecedented global challenges, the report also proves that positive change is possible, as shown by the success of women’s collective action to obtain accountability for crimes against them and the flourishing of feminist movements across the world. The report showcases successful initiatives in scaling up public services to meet women’s rights, from increasing access to contraception and childcare, to reducing domestic violence and increasing women’s participation in politics and peace building.

SUPPORTING EQUALITY

The report is said to be the most comprehensive and participatory stock-taking exercise on women’s rights ever undertaken, with contributions from 170 member states. It reveals that there have been advances in women’s and girls’ rights since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action. There are now more girls in school than ever before, fewer women are dying in childbirth and the proportion of women in parliaments has doubled across the world. Over the past decade, 131 countries have passed laws to support women’s equality.

PROGRESS ‘FAR TOO SLOW’

Nevertheless, statistics from the UN’s report also demonstrate that gender equality progress has been ‘far too slow’ and uneven:

• Globally, progress on women’s access to paid work has ground to a halt over the past 20 years. Less than two thirds of women (62%) aged 25-54 are in the labour force, compared to more than nine out of 10 (93%) men.
• Women continue to shoulder the bulk of unpaid care and domestic work, and are on average paid 16% less than men, rising to 35% in some countries.
• Nearly one in five women (18%) have faced violence from an intimate partner in the past year. New technologies are fuelling new forms of violence, such as cyber-harassment, for which policy solutions are largely absent.
• 32 million girls are still not in school.
• Men still control three quarters of parliamentary seats.
• Women are largely excluded from peace processes, representing only 13% of negotiators and only 4% of signatories.

According to Mlambo-Ngcuka, “2020 presents an unprecedented opportunity to turn things around for current and future generations of women and girls. To accelerate progress during the UN Decade of Action, UN Women has initiated six Action Coalitions that will mobilise governments, civil society, UN agencies, and the private sector to deliver game-changing results to advance equality for women and girls.”

To catalyse systemic and lasting change, the report points to the need to vastly increase financing for gender equality, to harness the potential of technology and innovation and ensure that development is inclusive of women and girls who face multiple forms of discrimination.