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

Victim Support Europe

VSE 1989 Brussels Belgium D

Vienna NGO Committee on the Status of Women

1982 E y

Vier Pfoten International

Vienna Austria F

Village Monde

2010 Québec QC Canada G

Virtual Educa

2000 Alcala de Henares Spain F

Vision Aid Overseas

VAO 1985 Crawley UK G

Vision GRAM-International

1996 Ottawa ON Canada G

Vital Voices Global Partnership

VVGP 2001 Washington DC USA G

VIVAT International

2000 New York NY USA E

Voice and Speech Trainers Association

VASTA 1986 Kingston WA USA G v

Voices Without Frontiers

VWF 1996 Montréal QC Canada E

Volontariato Internazionale Donna Educazione Sviluppo

VIDES 1987 Rome Italy F

Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo

VIS 1986 Rome Italy G

Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity International

VOSH/International 1972 Omaha NE USA G

Walk Free Foundation

WFF Nedlands WA Australia G f

Walk21 Foundation

Walk21 2000 Cheltenham UK F f

WAO-Afrique

1989 Lomé Togo E

War Child International

1993 Amsterdam Netherlands F

War on Want

1952 London UK G f

WASH United

2010 Berlin Germany G

Washington Office on Latin America

WOLA 1974 Washington DC USA G

Wassu-UAB Foundation

1987 Bellaterra Spain G f

Waste Free Waters

2011 Klimmen Netherlands G

Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict

Watchlist 2001 New York NY USA G

Water Europe

WE 2004 Brussels Belgium E y

WaterAid

1981 London UK F

WATU Acción Indigena

1993 Madrid Spain N

WE CAN

Brussels Belgium N

WE Charity

1995 Toronto ON Canada F

We Effect

1968 Stockholm Sweden G

We Move Europe

WeMove.EU Berlin Germany F

Weavers Committee

1989 Suva Fiji E y

WEC International

WEC 1913 Coventry UK F v

WEConnect International

Washington DC USA G

WeForest

2008 Brussels Belgium F

Weltfriedensdienst

WFD 1959 Berlin Germany G

WePROTECT Global Alliance

2012 Lisse Netherlands B

West Africa Centre for Peace Foundation

WACPF 2008 Accra Ghana G f

West Africa Network for Peacebuilding

WANEP 1998 Accra Ghana F y

West African Human Rights Defenders' Network

WAHRDN 2005 Lomé Togo D

West African Women's Association

WAWA 1984 Dakar Senegal E

West and Central Africa Human Rights Training Institute

WACAHRI 2004 E j

WFTO-Europe

Brussels Belgium D

Whirly-Girls - International Women Helicopter Pilots

1955 Pinehurst NC USA N v

WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities

GNAFCC 2010 Geneva Switzerland F y

WIDE+

1985 Brussels Belgium F y

Widows Rights International

WRI 1996 G

Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation

WISE 2006 Hull UK N j

Wildlife Justice Commission

WJC 2015 The Hague Netherlands C

Winrock International

1985 Little Rock AR USA G

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