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

Global Harmony Foundation

GHF 1989 Lausanne Switzerland N f

Global Health Innovative Technology Fund

GHIT Fund 2012 Tokyo Japan G f

Global HearthWorks Foundation

2013 Cambridge MA USA G f

Global Hope Mobilization

GLOHOMO Lilongwe Malawi G

Global Human Rights Defence

GHRD The Hague Netherlands G

Global Impact

1956 Alexandria VA USA G y

Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

GI-ESCR 2010 Mexico City Mexico G

Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies

G3ict 2006 Atlanta GA USA E y

Global Interagency Security Forum

GISF 2006 London UK F y

Global Issues Network

GIN 2006 F

Global Justice

Washington DC USA G

Global Justice Center

GJC 2005 New York NY USA G

Global Justice Ecology Project

GJEP 2003 Buffalo NY USA G

Global Justice Now

1970 London UK G

Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum

GLJ-ILRF 1986 Washington DC USA G f

Global Labor Organization

GLO 2017 Essen Germany F

Global Learning

GL N

Global Legal Empowerment Network

2010 Washington DC USA F

Global March Against Child Labour

1997 Delhi India F

Global Medic Force

2001 New York NY USA G

Global Mining Guidelines Group

GMG 2012 Ormstown QC Canada C

Global Movement for Digital Freedom

Access 2009 New York NY USA F

Global Network for Perinatal and Reproductive Health

GNPRH Portland OR USA F

Global Network for Sustainable Housing

GNSH 2011 Nairobi Kenya E

Global Network for Women's and Children's health Research

2001 Research Triangle Park NC USA G

Global Network of Civil Society Organisations for Disaster Reduction

GNDR 2007 London UK F

Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS

GNP+ 1986 Amsterdam Netherlands F

Global Network of Women in Politics

GLOBALNET 1995 Quezon City Philippines G

Global Network of Women Peacebuilders

GNWP New York NY USA F y

Global Network of Women's Shelters

GNWS 2009 F

Global Observatory on Peer-to-Peer, Community Self-Consumption and Transactive Energy Models

GO-P2P 2019 London UK F v

Global One

2013 London UK G

Global Parliament of Mayors

GPM 2016 The Hague Netherlands F v

Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation

GPEDC 2011 New York NY USA E g

Global Partnership for Emerging Leaders

GPEL 2015 G

Global Partnership for Results-Based Approaches

GPRBA 2003 Washington DC USA E gy

Global Research Council

GRC 2012 F

GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY - Austrian Platform for Development and Humanitarian Aid

2008 Vienna Austria G y

Global Rights

1978 Abuja Nigeria G

Global Rights Alert

GRA 2007 Kampala Uganda G

Global Rights, Rules and Responsibilities

GRRR N

Global Semiconductor Alliance

GSA Dallas TX USA C

Global Sisters of Moral Fibre

Mayfield NSW Australia G

Global Snow Leopard & Ecosystem Protection Program

GSLEP 2013 Bishkek Kyrgyzstan E g

Global Student Forum

GSF Brussels Belgium F y

Global Survivors Fund

GSF 2019 Geneva Switzerland J f

Global Sustainable Technology and Innovation Conference

G-STIC 2017 S c

Global Sustainable Tourism Council

GSTC 2010 Washington DC USA B y

Global Teen Challenge

1995 Columbus GA USA G

Global Telecom Women's Network

GTWN 1991 London UK C

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