Turning Promises into Action: Gender Equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

This report from United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) illustrates the pervasive nature of discrimination against all women and girls across the world, and offers actionable recommendations on how to fulfill the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, which was adopted by the international community in 2015 and established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address global challenges through economic, social, and environmental progress. The report explores, through a gender lens, the process and challenges of implementing the 17 SDGs, and offers key data on the state of women and girls’ health; education; economic status; access to clean water, sanitation, and housing; exposure to violence; and more. It also examines gaps within countries—which are often rooted in income disparities, race or ethnicity, or location—presenting data from Colombia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the United States in brief country case studies. The report highlights four key areas of action for achieving greater equity and progress toward the 2030 Agenda: integrated policies that “leverage synergies” and help achieve multiple goals simultaneously; “more and better statistics” to allow for regular and reliable data collection and sound assessment; closing the financing gap by addressing the unrecorded capital flight, reversing public expenditure cuts that erode essential services, and using all available strategies for raising domestic revenue; and, ensuring those in power are held accountable for gender equality commitments.

The report is accompanied by an executive summary, downloadable data annexes, global and regional factsheets, and brief videos that explore the themes of the report.