The Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2022 presents the latest evidence on gender equality across all 17 goals, calling out the long road ahead to achieve gender equality. The report shows that the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. COVID-19 and the backlash against women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are further diminishing the outlook for gender equality. Violence against women remains high; global health, climate and humanitarian crises have further increased risks of violence, especially for the most vulnerable women and girls; and women feel more unsafe than they did before the pandemic. Women’s representation in positions of power and decision-making remains below parity. Only 48 per cent of data required to track progress on SDG 5 are currently available, rendering women and girls effectively invisible.

Moving forward, progress on SDG 5 will remain out of reach unless long-term structural barriers to gender equality, including discriminatory norms, laws and practices are addressed and dismantled. Nearly at the half-way mark to 2030, the time to act and invest in women and girls is now. Global cooperation and investments in the gender equality and women’s empowerment agenda, including through increased national funding, are essential to right the course and place SDG 5 back on track.