Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

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

Gender Equality


While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment under the Millennium Development Goals (including equal access to primary education between girls and boys), women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world.

Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Unfortunately, at the current time, 1 in 5 women and girls between the ages of 15-49 have reported experiencing physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner within a 12-month period and 49 countries currently have no laws protecting women from domestic violence. Progress is occurring regarding harmful practices such as child marriage and FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), which has declined by 30% in the past decade, but there is still much work to be done to complete eliminate such practices.

Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large. Implementing new legal frameworks regarding female equality in the workplace and the eradication of harmful practices targeted at women is crucial to ending the gender-based discrimination prevalent in many countries around the world.

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

Americas Foundation

1942 New York NY USA N f

Amnesty International

AI 1961 London UK B

Amnesty International - European Institutions Office

1992 Brussels Belgium E

Ananda Marga Gurukula

AMGK Network 1990 Anandanagar India F

Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia

Auckland New Zealand E

Animal Liberation Front

ALF 1976 Los Angeles CA USA F

Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures

Anna Lindh Foundation 2004 Alexandria Egypt E fg

Anne Frank House

1957 Amsterdam Netherlands N

Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International

ABWTI 1980 London UK N

Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith

ADL 1913 New York NY USA G

Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Productontwikkeling

APOPO 1998 Antwerp Belgium G

Anti-Slavery International

1839 London UK C v

AO Alliance

2015 Davos-Platz Switzerland E

APHELEIA - Humanities International Association For Cultural Integrated Landscape Management

2017 Mação Portugal E

Apne Aap Women Worldwide

2002 Kolkata India G

Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession

ACIJLP 1997 Cairo Egypt G

Arab Commission for Human Rights

ACHR 1998 Malakoff France E

Arab Council for Supporting Fair Trial

ACSFT Cairo Egypt J

Arab Council for the Social Sciences

ACSS 2010 Beirut Lebanon D

Arab Court of Justice

ACJ 1945 J gp

Arab Federation of Surveyors

2002 Beirut Lebanon D

Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations

AGFUND 1981 Riyadh Saudi Arabia F fg

Arab Human Rights Foundation

AHRF Sanaa Yemen G f

Arab Institute for Human Rights

AIHR 1989 Tunis Tunisia E j

Arab International Women's Forum

AIWF 2001 London UK F

Arab Network for Civic Education

ANHRE 2009 Amman Jordan D

Arab Network for Women in Science and Technology

ANWST Alexandria Egypt F

Arab Organization for Human Rights

AOHR 1983 Cairo Egypt D

Arab Press Freedom Watch

APFW F

Arab Programme for Human Rights Activists

APHRA 1997 Cairo Egypt G

Arab Reform Initiative

ARI 2006 Paris France F y

Arab Regional Resource Center on Violence Against Women

AMAN 2000 Amman Jordan G

Arab Society for Academic Freedom

2008 J

Arab Society for Academic Freedoms

ASAF 2008 Amman Jordan D

Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences

AUASS 1998 Sharjah United Arab Emirates D y

Arab Women in Maritime Association

AWiMA 2017 J

Arab Women Investors Union

AWIU 2005 Giza Egypt D

Arab Women Organization

AW0 Cairo Egypt D g

Arab Women's Habitat Network

Amman Jordan G

Arab Youth Movement

AYM Nazareth Israel K

Arabic Alliance for Freedom and Democracy

AAFD Cairo Egypt J

ARC International

2003 Geneva Switzerland G

Arca Foundation

1952 Washington DC USA G f

Archbishop of Sydney's Anglican Aid

Sydney NSW Australia G f

Architects Regional Council Asia

ARCASIA 1979 Singapore Singapore F

Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme

AMAP 1991 Tromsø Norway E gy

Ariadne - European Funders for Social Change and Human Rights

Ariadne 2009 London UK F

Ariel Foundation International

AFI Geneva Switzerland F f

Ark Foundation of Africa

AFA 1986 Washington DC USA G f

Armenian International Women's Association

AIWA 1991 Watertown MA USA G

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