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Surprisingly, there is not a single indicator on Sustainable Development Goals Gender equality (SDG 5) is on track to be achieved by 2030, which was the initial deadline, according to Gender Snapshot 2026.
These targets include ending discrimination, gender-based violence and harmful practices such as forced marriage and female genital mutilation as well as ensuring women’s full participation in leadership and guaranteeing economic and property rights.
Read the full report Here.
Who holds the power?
Women continue to face systemic barriers to entering political life.
The UN report highlighted the persistent concentration of political power among men, and found that six out of seven countries are currently led by men.
It’s true, the cost of running for office can exceed 100 times a country’s average per capita income, excluding many women before candidacy even begins. In some countries, eight out of 10 women who run for office also face violence in public life.
Even when women enter government, they are disproportionately kept out of portfolios of highest security and economic power. Nearly nine in 10 defense ministers and more than eight in 10 finance ministers are men.
Outside of government, women make up only six percent of CEOs globally and preside over less than 20 percent of the highest courts, leaving decisions that shape business, law, employment and the global economy entirely in the hands of men.
This imbalance severely weakens democracy because a country cannot fully uphold human rights or democratic principles, while half of its population does not have an equal voice in leadership and decision-making, the report emphasizes.
Violence and discrimination
Millions of women also continue to experience severe forms of violence and discrimination throughout the world.
Nearly one in five girls is married before the age of 18, and an estimated 230 million women and girls worldwide are survivors of female genital mutilation.
Nearly one in three women worldwide have experienced violence from a partner or sexual violence in their lifetime, and in the last 12 months alone, 316 million women experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by an intimate partner.
Importantly, the report found that not a single country has achieved full legal equality, and 51 percent of the 131 countries studied still have significant legal gaps.
Nearly two-thirds of countries provide little or no legal protection for women’s land rights, creating significant barriers to land ownership and land security. Less than 30 percent of countries studied ensure collective land registration or women’s participation in land governance.
No longer a priority
Solving this problem has also been removed from the priority agenda.
Amid widespread funding cuts to development aid, programs addressing gender inequality have been among the hardest hit, with such funding falling to its lowest level since 2021.
One in four institutional mechanisms for gender equality experienced operational budget cuts over the past two years, and one in three institutional mechanisms experienced an erosion of institutional strength in the same period.
Meanwhile, amid funding cuts, 42 percent of UN entities reported weakening of their gender equality efforts.
“What Gender Snapshot 2026 shows is that this is inevitable,” said Li Junhua, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.
“This is the result of choices visible through data. Investing in gender equality, institutions and statistical systems that hold them accountable is not a cost. It is the quickest path back to normal.” Agenda 2030the promise of equal power for all.”
