Welcome to the United Nations
With just five years remaining until the 2030 deadline for achieving the SDGs, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls remains off track. The last review of SDG 5 at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in 2022 highlighted the immense burdens women faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including job losses, increased gender-based violence, and disruptions to health services. Although there have been positive developments since then, such as new laws protecting reproductive rights and increased women's labor force participation, these gains are insufficient to achieve SDG 5 by 2030. Moreover, progress has been uneven across different regions, with marginalized communities facing the greatest setbacks. As the Gender Snapshot 2024 revealed, there are significant costs of not achieving gender equality and delivering the promises of the 2030 Agenda, underscoring the urgency of decisive action
This session will explore what it will take to accelerate progress towards SDG 5 and the empowerment of all women and girls worldwide. It will assess progress to date on SDG 5, identify challenges and opportunities for accelerating achievements, and highlight science-backed solutions for advancing SDG 5 and interlinked goals and targets.
The session will recognize progress made while identifying new challenges since SDG 5 was last reviewed at the HLPF three years ago. New areas of opportunity, promising partnerships and case studies will be discussed. How to tackle persistent barriers to achieving gender equality and emerging challenges to women’s empowerment will also be covered.
The session will highlight the strong interlinkages of SDG 5 with the rest of the 2030 Agenda. Practical policies that build on synergies between SDG 5 and other goals will be discussed. Means of implementation, including technology and financing for SDG5, will be a particular focus. Linkages with the 30th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development and the Second World Summit for Social Development will be highlighted.
Proposed guiding questions:
- What are the trends in SDG 5 targets? Which areas have seen the most progress and which ones are lagging behind the most?
- What lessons have been learned in policy making for gender equality in the last 10 years of implementation? What can be done differently from the past, and what should be reinforced and accelerated? What are the biggest impediments to progress?
- What are the science- and evidence- based policy solutions that can help achieve gender equality? How can synergies with other goals be realized, while putting women and girls at the centre?
- How can the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) continue to guide efforts to achieve SDG 5, particularly in the context of the HLPF review? How can we leverage the commitments on gender equality and the empowerment of women in the Pact for the Future?
