GENDER EQUALITY AT THE HEART OF A PROSPEROUS AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Interagency. Institute N. 0 1 O U T 2 0 2 5 ISSN 2789 – 8040 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17925117 1 Gender Equality at the heart of a prosperous and sustainable future Veronica Morëira https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0881-4602 Interagency. Institute N. 0 1 O U T 2 0 2 5 ISSN 2789 – 8040 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17925117 1 Beyond being a matter of justice, gender equality is crucial for the establishment of prosperous societies committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, there is still a long way to go. The report "Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2025" (UN, 2025) warns that, without substantial changes, in 2030, 351 million women and girls will remain in extreme poverty, facing discrimination and violence. The "Global Gender Gap Report 2025," in turn, corroborates this scenario, projecting a 123-year timeline for achieving full gender parity. Currently, the global average is 68.8% (WEF, 2025). Yes, the global data is worrying and hides significant disparities. While the Global North has a parity of 74.3%, the Global South remains between 66.0% and 66.4% (WEF, 2025). The fact is that the female experience differs substantially between these regions due to factors such as geographic location, socioeconomic status, access to education, and, among others, cultural and political contexts (WBG, 2024). That said, it is essential to acknowledge that disregarding these and many other distinctions not only masks but also compromises the understanding of how complex the challenge posed by SDG 5 is. To address this less-than-optimistic scenario, the United Nations (UN) identifies six priority areas that require immediate action: digital inclusion, poverty eradication, zero tolerance for violence, equal decision-making power, peace and security, and climate justice (UN, 2025). One example of a positive impact is bridging the digital gender gap, which could benefit 343.5 million women and girls, lift 30 million out of poverty by 2050, and inject US$1.5 trillion into the global economy by 2030 (UN, 2025). In view of the above, this Policy Brief aims to update data related to gender parity challenges and formulate concrete recommendations applicable to public policies and gender governance, which must be, above all, intersectional and anti-colonial governance capable of ensuring inclusive and sustainable development for all populations. Interagency. Institute N. 0 1 O U T 2 0 2 5 ISSN 2789 – 8040 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17925117 2 Considered the founding milestone of the global agenda on gender equality, the Beijing Platform for Action (BPA) was adopted by consensus in 1995 by 189 states at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. It serves as a crucial historical reference for establishing the most comprehensive program ever created to ensure equal rights for women and girls worldwide (UN, 1995). Comprising 12 critical areas, which address and continue to address the main obstacles to women's empowerment, the BAP already covers topics such as: Poverty; Education and Training; Health; Gender Violence; Armed Conflict; Economy; Political Participation; Institutional Mechanisms; Human Rights; Media; Environment; and Girls. Its practical goals and periodic review mechanisms (every five years) made the PAP not just a declaration of principles, but a detailed action plan whose legacy is undeniable. This is evident in its direct connection to subsequent agendas, such as UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, which deepens the debate on gender equality in conflict contexts. UN Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, also occupies an important place internationally. This is because it establishes the link between women, peace, and security. Additionally, it prioritizes gender equality at the center of policies for preventing, managing, and resolving armed conflicts (UN, 2000). The first major impact of this Resolution was the explicit way the Security Council affirmed the need for women's equal participation at all levels of peace and security processes. At that moment, women ceased to be mere victims and became essential agents in the construction and maintenance of peace. In summary, the document proposes mainstreaming the gender perspective, given the urgency of recognizing the effects of conflict on women and girls and addressing them in peace policies and operations, including violence prevention, participation in negotiations, and postconflict reconstruction (UN, 2000). By way of illustration, among the elements of "Resolution 1325" (UN, 2000), the following stand out: • Recognition of the specific vulnerabilities of women in armed conflict; • Promotion of women's active participation in peace and security decisionmaking; • Defense of gender equality as a cross-cutting principle in international security policies; • Adoption of the "Women, Peace, and Security" agenda. In the same year, 189 nations agreed to combat extreme poverty and other social Interagency. Institute N. 0 1 O U T 2 0 2 5 ISSN 2789 – 8040 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17925117 3 ills. Between September 6 and 8, 2000, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the Millennium Summit established eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015. Regarding gender equality, MDG 3 stands out: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women. Although the focus of the third MDG was reserved for agendas and goals considered modest in view of the scope of the challenges faced by women, there is no doubt about its leading role in consolidating the gender agenda as a central element of international commitments. This has expanded indicators related to the presence of women in education, the labor market, and politics, for example (MDG, 2016). The experience of the MDGs, with their gains and limitations, is commonly seen as a driver of multilateral agendas. As a result, more daring and comprehensive initiatives have emerged, such as the 2030 Agenda, launched in 2015. With 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which mainstream gender equality in multiple dimensions, this initiative reaffirms its global commitment, embodied in SDG 5, to be achieved by 2030. Since Agenda 2030 was unanimously adopted in 2015, about gender equality, the focus of SDG 5, there has been remarkable progress in laws and policies that benefit women and girls. However, data contained in the report "Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2025," published on September 16, serve as a warning: if we continue at this dangerously slow pace, the document states, we will not achieve the 2030 goals; and inaction will have devastating consequences for millions of women and the future of our planet (UN, 2025). At the same time, the World Economic Forum's "Global Gender Gap Report 2025" provides an analysis of gender parity across 148 economies, divided into four main areas: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment (WEF, 2025). The document celebrates global progress, but a careful reading reveals that the generalizing perspective masks deep and persistent gaps when considering the divide between the Global North and the Global South. Hence, the decision to shed light on some updated data, which may be revealing. Unfortunately, progress toward gender equality, as agreed in the 2030 Agenda, is far from desirable. According to the United Nations, none of the indicators or subindicators of SDG 5 have been achieved or are close to being achieved (UN, 2025). Considering this problem, the World Economic Forum report notes that this reality is even more pronounced in low-income economies and is exacerbated by historical Interagency. Institute N. 0 1 O U T 2 0 2 5 ISSN 2789 – 8040 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17925117 4 legacies of colonization and patriarchal structures that perpetuate an unequal distribution of power and resources. According to the data provided in the study, the relationship between income level and gender parity is clear, highlighting the economic dimension of the disparity between the Global North and South (WEF, 2025). In quantitative terms, only 31 countries have robust systems in place to monitor and allocate specific budgets for gender equality and women's empowerment (UN, 2025). It is concerning that 73 countries are stagnating in their efforts to remove legal discrimination in employment and grant economic benefits. It is also worrying that 39 countries have seen a decline in female representation in their national parliaments. Hence, although the availability of data on SDG 5 has improved (from 47.0% in 2022 to 57.4% in 2025), the lack of intersectional analysis appears to be generating distortions (UN, 2025). Despite the disparities between the Global North and South, it is evident that gender inequality persists in multiple crucial areas. 1. Digital inclusion is still a challenge. In 2024, 70% of men used the internet, compared to 65% of women. This gap is even wider in developing countries. In addition, employed women are almost twice as likely to be in jobs at high risk of automation (4.7% for women versus 2.4% for men). If we can close this digital gap, we could inject US$1.5 trillion into the global economy by 2030 and lift 343.5 million women and girls out of extreme poverty by 2050 (WEF, 2025). 2. Economic inequality continues to loom large. In 2025, an estimated 9.2% of women and girls will live in extreme poverty, compared to 8.6% of men and boys. Gender inequality in employment has improved by only 4 percentage points over the past 30 years. A staggering 708 million women are out of the global labor market due to unpaid care responsibilities. They devote 2.5 times more hours to these tasks than men (UN, 2025). 3. Gender-based violence (GBV): a reality that continues. More than one in eight women (12.5%) aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner in the past 12 months. Although 84% of countries with published data have specific laws and 66% have national action plans, women who suffer this violence show a pattern: they earn, on average, between 26% and 60% less than their partners (UN, 2025). 4. Female representation in positions of power remains limited. As of January 1, 2025, women held only 27.2% of seats in national parliaments, and their representation in local governments stagnated at 35.5% in 2023 and 2024. In management positions, women account for only 30%. As of August 1, 2025, only 29 countries had a woman as their head of state or government (UN, 2025). 5. The number of women and girls who are victims of armed conflict is increasing. In 2024, 676 million women and girls were living within 50 km of an armed conflict, the highest number since the 1990s. Women and girls accounted for 92% of victims of sexual violence in conflict zones that same year. And this percentage is likely to increase if women's participation in war and peace (as negotiators or mediators, for Interagency. Institute N. 0 1 O U T 2 0 2 5 ISSN 2789 – 8040 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17925117 5 example) remains well below the one-third target set by the UN (UN, 2025). 6. More women and girls are living in extreme poverty due to climate change. In the worst-case climate scenario, changes could push up to 158.3 million more women and girls into extreme poverty by 2050, and food insecurity could affect an additional 236 million. Only 39% of countries have established national mechanisms to integrate gender equality into their climate policies, and less than 1% of official development assistance for related issues was directed to women's rights organizations between 2022 and 2023 (UN, 2025). Women and girls represent roughly half of the world's population, and their full empowerment has proven to be strategic in addressing global challenges, such as eradicating poverty and hunger, as well as promoting health, education, peace, and climate action. In the wake of this journey, the year 2025 is a landmark year. It marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security, and the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. Data points to the risk that, if we continue at the current pace, by 2030, 351 million women and girls will still be trapped in extreme poverty due to systemic neglect, insufficient investment, and setbacks in the pursuit of equality. However, the data also gives us hope, showing that a different path is possible. Imagine the impact of just one concrete action, such as closing the gender digital divide. We could benefit 343.5 million women and girls globally, lift 30 million out of poverty by 2050, and generate US$1.5 trillion in global GDP by 2030 (UN, 2025). To this end, intersectionality can be helpful, as factors such as geographical, socioeconomic, educational, cultural, and political contexts, among others, demonstrate the need for global gender governance to recognize and address the differences between the Global North and South, ensuring inclusive and resilient development for all populations. Resetting the path to gender equality more quickly involves, among other actions, bold, integrated, and adequately funded policies. To achieve their goal, regardless of the actions taken, it is essential to consider the North-South divide through an Interagency. Institute N. 0 1 O U T 2 0 2 5 ISSN 2789 – 8040 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17925117 6 intersectional approach. In this regard, according to the latest United Nations study on gender (UN, 2025), it will be necessary to: • Invest in digital literacy and technology training programs tailored to the needs of women, including those with disabilities and older women. • Integrate a gender perspective into the design of new technologies and create regulations to combat gender stereotypes and protect data privacy. • Prioritize investments in gender-sensitive social protection, such as conditional cash transfer programs, to support vulnerable populations. • Expand access to high-quality public services, including health care (with a focus on reproductive health), education (especially for girls), and child and elder care services. • Value and redistribute unpaid care work through parental leave policies and investments in care infrastructure. • Adopt, implement, and fund strong laws to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women and girls, including online violence. • Train public officials—including law enforcement, the judiciary, and health professionals—to ensure an effective and gender-sensitive response. • Promote women's economic autonomy to help reduce violence, given the link between financial inclusion and a decrease in intimate partner violence. • Increase female representation in national parliaments, local governments, and leadership positions in the private sector. • Protect civic spaces and strengthen institutions that oversee the implementation of gender equality. • Encouraging the participation of young women and adolescents in decisionmaking processes is vital to ensuring fairer representation. • Strengthen the responsibility of states for peace and security by adopting fully funded national action plans and supporting local women's organizations to address crises and conflicts. • Ensure women's economic security in conflict contexts and provide gender data and analysis in crisis situations to guide policies and programs. • Prioritize the rights of women and girls, especially those from rural and indigenous communities, by placing them at the center of climate action and ensuring their access to productive assets and land rights. 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