Progress for the rights of women and girls all over the world is slow.
At our current pace – and if global commitments are adhered to – a lady born today can be nearly 40 years old before women hold as many seats in parliament as men.
She can be 68 before child marriage is eradicated. She is going to never live to see the tip of utmost poverty for girls and girls — a goal that, at this rate, will take one other 137 years to realize.
What’s more, the backlash against gender equality is growing, with rising resistance and deepening political, social, and cultural challenges that threaten to undo hard-won progress.
Nonetheless, amidst this context, there’s a palpable sense of optimism.
On the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) held on the United Nations Headquarters in Recent York City last week, heads of state, business leaders, activists, and advocacy groups gathered for what I wish to call the gender equality equivalent of COP, the annual summit on climate change.
Ours is a worldwide meeting on gender equality, and as Executive Director of UN Women UK, a charity working to be sure that every woman and girl has access to safety, alternative and a voice, I’ve had the privilege of a front row seat to discussions shaping the long run of gender equality. It’s been each sobering and energising, in addition to a robust reminder that gender equality is in a fragile state.
Every speech, every solution presented, and each alliance formed carries a spark of hope.
On the opening day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, issued a stark call to motion saying that ‘we still live in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture. And power isn’t given, it have to be taken. Together, we must seize it.’
At the tip of the day, as gender equality is given its rightful place on the world stage, there isn’t a query that while the trail ahead is difficult, the momentum for meaningful change is undeniable.
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On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a year-long campaign to handle the relentless epidemic of violence against women.
With the assistance of our partners at Women’s Aid, This Is Not Right goals to shine a lightweight on the sheer scale of this national emergency.
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This 12 months’s CSW is especially poignant because it marks 30 years since world leaders committed to a landmark document called the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Motion, which stays probably the most comprehensive and forward-thinking frameworks for advancing gender equality.
It covers 12 critical areas of concern, including poverty, education, health, violence against women, armed conflict, economy, decision-making, institutional mechanisms, human rights, media, environment, and the girl child.
Now, in 2025, our global vision for securing the rights of girls and girls is susceptible to slipping through our fingers. But – if CSW is anything to go by – there’s light at the tip of the tunnel.
Considered one of the important thing highlights of the event was a renewed commitment to gender equality. In the course of the opening ceremony, member states of the UN – including the UK – agreed to maneuver beyond guarantees and take decisive motion to make sure rights, equality and empowerment for all women and girls to recognise the necessity for an intersectional approach
This includes being involved in all points of peace processes, including peacekeeping and conflict prevention; investing in education, particularly STEM; and shutting the gender gap in AI.
To do that, we must lift women out of poverty. The most recent research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on poverty within the UK found that 6 million people within the UK reside in very deep poverty, defined as living on lower than 40% of the median income.
We all know that poverty disproportionately affects women, who are sometimes paid lower than men and who’re much more prone to be single parents and subsequently at the next risk of living in poverty.
Eradicating this requires a multi-pronged strategy that must include investment in education, but additionally a commitment by industry and business to shut the gender gap. Equal pay for equal work is prime and stronger enforcement of equal pay laws and greater transparency in pay structures is important.
Alongside this, CSW emphasised the importance of revolutionising care within the UK, which have to be viewed as an investment, not a value.
UN Women UK research found that one in 4 working moms are being forced to quit work as a result of lack of suitable childcare options, while 26% of mums have unwillingly reduced their hours. The UK must expand access to inexpensive childcare, while also providing paid family leave to be sure that families can access the support they need.
And lastly, we must end gender-based violence. Within the UK, a lady is killed by a person every three days on average.
Need to learn more?
To search out out more about UN Women UK, pledge your motion for gender equality or donate funds, visit www.unwomenuk.org.
Violence against women and girls is an epidemic so serious the National Police Chiefs’ Council has declared it a ‘national emergency’. We must prioritise prevention and education – implementing public awareness campaigns and academic programmes, in addition to encouraging bystander interventions and supporting survivor-centered services.
These are big and daunting topic areas, but I’m encouraged and motivated by the resilience and unity of girls all over the world. We’re pushing back – not only for the preservation of progress, but for the further dismantling of systemic inequalities.
I actually have a fireplace in my belly hearing from women all over the world driving real change.
We must select motion over apathy. Hope over despair. Because gender equality is the way in which forward – not only for girls, not only for women, but for the long run of humanity.
Let’s proceed to push boundaries, elevate the voices of our marginalised sisters, and switch guarantees into motion.
Do you could have a story you’d wish to share? Get in contact by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
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