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Reaching a ‘Planet 50-50’ by 2030
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women
G
ender
E
quality
and
W
omen
’
s
E
mpowerment
I
t is often said that nothing can stop an idea whose
time has come. But what about an idea whose time
is overdue? This is the situation for women and girls
around the world. The time for equality is long overdue
and we must now accelerate our efforts to create the
gender-equal world we all deserve.
With its universal nature and resounding call for gender equal-
ity, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has provided
us with an ideal roadmap. Common to the whole Agenda, and
its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is the emphasis
on ‘leaving no one behind’, directing our attention to those who
have least and whose voices are unheard. Unfortunately, it is
women and girls who most often fall into this category.
Goal 5, which focuses on achieving gender equality and the
empowerment of women and girls, is designed to specifically
redress this problem. By dedicating a goal to women and girls,
gender equality evolves from being merely a ‘women’s issue’
to a human rights challenge that impacts us all. Because all
of the goals and the challenges they address are interlinked,
almost all of them have an impact on gender equality – and
vice versa. We cannot expect to make progress on issues such
as decent employment (Goal 8) or peace and justice (Goal
16) without addressing their underlying gender disparities.
Fundamentally, gender inequality and its various manifes-
tations are a whole-of-society problem and will require our
integrated and holistic response.
While we know that gender equality would lead to better
outcomes for all, we also know that change is unfortunately
not happening fast enough. Forecasts predict that, at the
current pace of change, it will take 50 years to achieve parity
in political participation, and 118 years to achieve true pay
equality between women and men.
Meanwhile, our daily headlines announce a litany of chal-
lenges with consequences that often affect women and girls
disproportionately: poverty, extensive migration and population
Image: UN Women/Gustavo Stephan
‘One Win Leads to Another’ uses sport to reduce gender inequalities and develop self-esteem and life skills among adolescent girls in Brazil