Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Gender Equality


Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. There has been progress over the last decades, but the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030.

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and therefore also half of its potential. But gender inequality persists everywhere and stagnates social progress.
On average, women in the labor market still earn 23 percent less than men globally and women spend about three times as many hours in unpaid domestic and care work as men.

Sexual violence and exploitation, the unequal division of unpaid care and domestic work, and discrimination in public office, all remain huge barriers. All these areas of inequality have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic: there has been a surge in reports of sexual violence, women have taken on more care work due to school closures, and 70% of health and social workers globally are women.

At the current rate, it will take an estimated 300 years to end child marriage, 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws, 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of power and leadership in the workplace, and 47 years to achieve equal representation in national parliaments.

Political leadership, investments and comprehensive policy reforms are needed to dismantle systemic barriers to achieving Goal 5 Gender equality is a cross-cutting objective and must be a key focus of national policies, budgets and institutions.

Name Acronym Founded City HQ Country/Territory HQ Type I Type II

Rotary International

RI 1905 Evanston IL USA F

Round Table on Responsible Soy Association

RTRS 2006 Zurich Switzerland C

Rural Water Supply Network

RWSN St Gallen Switzerland F

SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating the Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution

2002 T g

SADC Parliamentary Forum

SADC PF 1993 Windhoek Namibia F

Sail For Ethics

S4E 1996 Court-Saint-Etienne Belgium G

Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women

1987 San Diego CA USA D

Salam Institute for Peace and Justice

Sterling VA USA G j

Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate

1872 Gentilly France R

Salvation Army Women's Ministries

London UK F

Saratoga Foundation for Women Worldwide

Saratoga Springs NY USA G f

Save a Girl - Save a Generation

Madrid Spain G

Save the Children International

1979 London UK F y

Save the Children UK

SC UK 1919 London UK G f

Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers

SHRL G

School Meals Coalition

2021 J g

SCI Foundation

2002 London UK G f

Science Europe

2011 Brussels Belgium D

Science for Peace

SFP 1981 Toronto ON Canada G

Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund

SCIAF 1965 Glasgow UK G f

Screenwriting Research Network

SRN 2006 F

SDG Watch Europe

F y

Seafarers' Rights International

SRI London UK N

SEAMEO Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts

SEAMEO SPAFA 1985 Bangkok Thailand E g

SEAMEO Regional Centre for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel in Science

SEAMEO QITEP in Science 2009 Bandung Indonesia E gv

Search for Common Ground

SFCG 1982 Washington DC USA G

Searchlight

1962 Ilford UK G

Seattle to Brussels Network

S2B 2000 Amsterdam Netherlands F y

Secrétariat international francophone pour l'évaluation environnementale

SIFÉE 1996 Montréal QC Canada E

Seed Programs International

SPI 1998 Asheville NC USA G

Seeds to Sew International

Hopewell NJ USA G

Self Help Africa

SHA 2008 Dublin Ireland F

SERRV International

1949 Madison WI USA G

Servantes du Sacerdoce

1946 R

Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Good Shepherd Sisters of Quebec 1850 Sainte-Foy QC Canada R

Servants to Asia's Urban Poor

1983 Vancouver BC Canada G

Service Civil International

SCI 1920 Antwerp Belgium B

Service Volontaire International

SVI 2009 Brussels Belgium E

Servicio Ecuménico para la Dignidad Humana

SEDHU 1984 Montevideo Uruguay G

Sewa International

1993 New Delhi India G

Sex Workers' Rights Advocacy Network

SWAN 2006 J

Sexual Violence Research Initiative

SVRI 2003 Pretoria South Africa E v

SGF International

Nieder-Olm Germany C y

Share-Net International

Amsterdam Netherlands G y

Side by Side

F y

Sight and Life

1986 Basel Switzerland F

Sightsavers International

1950 Chippenham UK F

Sigrid Rausing Trust

1995 London UK G

Silambam Asia

1999 Petaling Jaya Malaysia D

Simply Neuroscience

2019 West Hollywood CA USA F v

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