Whole-of-Government, Whole-of-Society Approach Critical to Addressing Gender Equality, Executive Director Tells High-level Political Forum
Nearly a decade since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 dedicated to achieving gender equality and empowerment of women and girls “remains the most off-track”, speakers told a United Nations high-level political forum today, calling for reinforced measures to accelerate progress against a tide of backsliding rights and opportunities.
The first of two daily panels addressed “SDG 5 and interlinkages with other SDGs — Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”, with Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), warning that at the current pace, true gender equality in economic life, leadership and safety will remain generations away. “That is unacceptable,” she stressed.
With the growing erosion of rights, she called for a “push forward against the pushback” with investment in women and youth-led organizations and tackling misogyny head-on, be it online or off. Further, societies must invest in robust gender data systems that track real impact, ensure follow-up and address intersecting inequalities. “What gets measured, gets done,” she stated.
Offering concrete proposals, she urged stakeholders to work with Governments to advance nationally-owned development priorities. A whole-of-Government, whole-of-society approach is needed, as gender equality cannot be the remit of one ministry or one actor. Investment in care systems is critical, as unpaid care limits women’s full participation in economic and public life. Further, the UN80 initiative — a unique opportunity to make the UN more effective, efficient and impactful for women and girls — can help propel gender equality forward, ensuring enhanced regional and cross-regional coordination and increasing efficiency.
“A girl born today would see gender equality achieved in her ninety-seventh year” warned Albert Motivans, Head of Data and Insights at Equal Measures 2030 — a coalition of civil society organizations. The backslide is being driven by numerous factors including a resource crunch, with less international financing, domestic austerity measures and declining household incomes. He further highlighted a “democracy crunch”, as gender equality is closely linked with democracy, while its foundations worldwide are at risk due to rising economic inequality, social and political polarization, and the closing of civic space. Additionally, the “safety and security crunch” of rising conflict and militarization impacts women and girls in their choices and their personal safety.
He called for elevating women’s and girls’ leadership, power and voices — noting the progress in parliamentary participation at 27 per cent. Further, it is important to reform and adopt equality laws and policies to engage Governments and the wider public, and close gender-sensitive data gaps, with increased investment in public services and social infrastructure, including care.
Further, “there is unequal access to education for women all over the world”, said Zara Khanna, Youth Ambassador for She Loves Tech, citing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered learning programmes as a “key tool to aid us in bridging the divide”. They can approach students on an individual level, offering personalized feedback, which is especially important for those who face cultural and other barriers to gaining an education. She spotlighted Khan Academy — a free AI-powered personalized tutor that offers a range of subjects, from English to math, or Rori, which was piloted in Ghana and is available on all mobile devices, as it operates via WhatsApp. This is especially important, given that mobile penetration is extremely high; while 129 million girls lack access to education, 4.9 billion people worldwide have access to smartphones.
Outlining solutions, she underscored the need to accelerate connectivity by distributing more Internet hotspots. One single hotspot can power a village, and hundreds of girls can gain access to the wealth of knowledge available online. Additionally, more devices, such as smartphones and tablets, shall be distributed, so girls can access this knowledge. She underscored that Governments must invest in creating culture and language-specific AI-powered programmes to cater to the job markets that these girls will be entering. Through early science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) intervention, mentorship programmes and more gender-neutral language, “we can all move together to reach SDG 5 by 2030” and “a more gender-neutral future”.
Echoing those comments, Ms. Bahous cited the launch of the Beijing+30 Action Agenda, focused on six critical areas: digital inclusion, freedom from poverty, zero violence, leadership, peace and security, and climate justice. Cutting across these areas is engagement with young women and youth. “These are not distant goals,” she stated. “They are urgent demands from women and girls around the world”.
Mr. Motivans also emphasized the importance of reinforcing the use of national and global gender data like those in the Equal Measures SDG Gender Index. “But it’s not just to measure, it’s not just to count”, he said, noting the importance of evaluating not only the status of women and girls, but their impact on societies. Data can identify blocks to progress and gaps in various Goals, unpaid care and reproductive rights.
Recalling progress in countries implementing anti-discrimination laws, he noted that “Governments do that well” — but the next step requires ensuring that “equal opportunities for women and men” are met, as this is where countries may fall short. He called for mobilizing a society-wide range of partners, developing value propositions to engage those working on the ground with expert knowledge of the issues faced by women and girls.
Panel Reviews SDG Progress in Africa, Most Vulnerable Countries
In the afternoon, the first of two panel discussions explored ways to accelerate SDG progress in African countries, least developed countries and landlocked developing countries. Rabab Fatima, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and Secretary General of the third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC3), emphasized that these countries face “an increasingly complex development landscape” — the lingering impact of the pandemic, debt burdens, shrinking fiscal space, intensifying climate impact, economic instability and geopolitical tensions. They also suffer from the world’s lowest rates of energy and Internet access.
Against this backdrop, there is an urgent need for renewed international commitment, targeted time-bound frameworks that address the specific vulnerabilities of these countries, the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries and the Awaza Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries. These programmes must be integrated at the national and global levels and into the UN system. Underscoring the need to mobilize support, she called on other development partners and the private sector to also support these groups of countries. “Let us act with urgency and unity to realize the full potential for the 1.2 billion people they represent,” she stated.
For her part, Nosipho Jezile, Chairperson of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), cited the natural linkages amongst the SDGs — particularly SDG 2 to end hunger and SDG 14 on healthy, productive and resilient oceans, essential for ocean-based economies. She cited the Oceans Conference, which outlined key undertakings, including funding knowledge dissemination including traditional knowledge; mobilizing new public resources and private financing for sustainable blue economies — including decarbonization of maritime activities by 2050; combating pollution and addressing climate change to protect coastal livelihoods.
She recalled a recent World Bank report that external debt of low- and middle-income countries reached a record $8.8 trillion in 2023 — while debt-servicing costs also reached an all-time high. Further, there is deep concern that chronic hunger in Africa has risen from 7.9 per cent to 9.2 per cent, affecting an additional 750 million people. “The right to food is a binding element” she said, demanding climate action, conservation of biodiversity and management of healthy land systems. UN systems are like a rugby team in that “we need to play together to be successful”, she stated.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Could Help Africa Double GDP by 2035
Landry Signé, Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development, Africa Growth Initiative, Brookings Institution, underscored that political conflict is closely tied to the complex dynamics among multiple stakeholders. In case of a low level of ambiguity and a low level of conflict, successful implementation depends on the availability of resources and countries’ capacity to implement them. He noted that by 2050, Africa is expected to have a combined consumer and business spending of over $16.12 trillion, he said, emphasizing the critical importance of boosting trade, especially in women’s entrepreneurship and financing.
Turning to emerging technologies and AI, he noted that they hold enormous potential to accelerate SDG progress, but also risk deepening existing divides, especially in resource-constrained contexts. A recent study found that AI could positively impact 134 SDG targets, he added. Economically, AI could be transformational. By 2035, it is projected to double gross domestic product (GDP) growth in African economies through gains in productivity across agriculture, industry and services. In Kenya, Ghana and South Africa alone, over $136 billion could be leveraged by better use of technology, he stressed.
Panel Focuses on SDG Acceleration in Middle-Income Countries
In a final panel on accelerating SDG implementation in middle-income countries, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), noted that the region is home to 38 countries accounting for 60 per cent of the global population and one third of the world’s economy. “Progress here will significantly shape” the SDGs’ sustainable trajectory, she said.
Despite economic advancement, middle-income countries face persistent challenges including difficulties in creating jobs, natural resource management, reliance on primary commodity exports, disaster risk and climate change — and are home to 62 per cent of the world’s poor. She called for initiatives including holistic development assessment beyond GDP and reforming international financial architecture.
In an era dominated by advanced digital technologies, the countries must “avoid being left behind”, she said, requiring international cooperation. However, she noted the region “is the most digitally divided” with around 1.6 billion people still offline and 60 per cent lacking high speed Internet — requiring a significant push to tackle digital divides and avoid development traps.
Low-Interest Borrowing Enables Greater Investment
John W. McArthur, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development, and Senior Fellow, Global Economy and Development at the Brookings Institution, highlighted the often acute economic and environmental challenges confronting middle-income countries. Trends show that since the SDGs were set 10 years ago, business has continued as usual. “And that is the problem,” he said. The number of middle-income countries is almost exactly the same as it was in 2015.
Citing a new conception of the role of business, he noted that technology has changed dramatically and the cost of power is lower. However, an investment strategy for middle-income countries to leverage these new technologies for economic development is lacking. Calling for “bigger, faster and better investment”, he underscored the need to see debt not as a problem but as an enabler for financing projects. With trillions in new investment needed, he argued that the gap must be closed through increased borrowing — at a low cost of capital — and deploying it in high-yield opportunities.