Akm Shehabuddin Kisslu: The United Nations warned that the full gender equality will take almost 300 years to achieve at the current rate of progress as the new annual report on gender equality released. The report launched on Wednesday by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) said SDG 5-achieving gender equality will not be met by 2030 at the current pace of progress. The report also mentioned that multiple current crises have aggravated disparities.
“At the current rate of progress, the report estimates that it will take up to 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws, 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of power and leadership in the workplace, and at least 40 years to achieve equal representation in national parliaments,” said UN Women, which compiled the study.
That is very far from the goal of reaching gender equality by 2030, as set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.
The Gender Snapshot 2022 shows. Global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, violent conflict, climate change, and the backlash against women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are further exacerbating gender disparities.
The report also points to a worrisome reversal on the reduction of poverty, and rising prices are likely to exacerbate this trend. By the end of 2022, around 383 million women and girls will live in extreme poverty (on less than 1.90 a day) compared to 368 million men and boys. Many more will have insufficient income to meet basic needs such as food, clothing and adequate shelter in most parts of the world. If current trends continue, in sub-Saharan Africa, more women and girls will live in extreme poverty by 2030 than today.
Executive director of UN Women, Sima Bahous said, “It is critical that we rally now to invest in women and girls to reclaim and accelerate progress.”.
“The data show undeniable regressions in their lives made worse by the global crises – in incomes, safety, education and health. The longer we take to reverse this trend, the more it will cost us all,” she said in a statement.
The report showcases that cooperation, partnerships and investments in the gender equality agenda, including through increased global and national funding are essential to correct the course and place gender equality back on track.
“Global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, violent conflict, climate change, and the backlash against women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are further exacerbating gender disparities,” UN Woman said in a statement together with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
There were 44 million women and girls who had been forcibly displaced by the end of 2021 – the highest figure ever – and more than 1.2 billion women and girls of childbearing age living in countries with restrictions on access to abortions.
The invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war there is further worsening food insecurity and hunger, especially among women and children, limiting supplies of wheat, fertilizer and fuel, and propelling inflation. In 2021, about 38 per cent of female-headed households in war-affected areas experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, compared to 20 per cent of male-headed households.
Further facts and figures highlighted in the report include:
In 2020, school and preschool closures required 672 billion hours of additional unpaid childcare globally. Assuming the gender divide in care work remained the same as before the pandemic, women would have shouldered 512 billion of those hours.
Globally, women lost an estimated USD 800 billion in income in 2020 due to the pandemic, and despite a rebound, their participation in labour markets is projected to be lower in 2022 than it was pre-pandemic (50.8 per cent, compared to 51.8 per cent in 2019).
There are now more women and girls who are forcibly displaced than ever before: some 44 million women and girls by the end of 2021.
Today, over 1.2 billion women and girls of reproductive age (15-49) live in countries and areas with some restriction on access to safe abortion.
