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

Union of Rural Women from West Africa and Chad

2000 Bobo Dioulasso Burkina Faso G

Union Syndicale Fédérale

USF 1974 Brussels Belgium E y

Unione Intercontinentale Casalinghe

UNICA 1994 Brescia Italy D y

Unione Mondiale per la Pace ed i Diritti Fondamentali dell'Uomo e dei Popoli

UNIPAX Padua Italy G y

Unione Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo e La Pace

UVISP-Assisi 1987 Bastia Umbra Italy G

Unitaid

2006 Le Grand-Saconnex Switzerland E g

Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation

UUWF 1963 Milwaukee WI USA G

United for Foreign Domestic Workers' Rights

UFDWR Chiang Mai Thailand F y

United for Human Rights

UHR 2005 Los Angeles CA USA G

United for Peace and Justice

2002 G

United Nations

UN 1945 New York NY USA A gy

United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders

UNAFRI 1989 Kampala Uganda E gj

United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders

UNAFEI 1961 Tokyo Japan E gj

United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business

UN/CEFACT 1997 Geneva Switzerland E gt

United Nations Children's Fund

UNICEF 1946 New York NY USA F fg

United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

CCPCJ 1992 Vienna Austria E g

United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs

CND 1946 Vienna Austria E g

United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development

CSTD 1992 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women

CSW 1946 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

CESCR 1978 Geneva Switzerland E gv

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

UNCTAD 1964 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

CRC 1989 T g

United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network

1991 Vienna Austria F g

United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women

1993 T g

United Nations Development Programme

UNDP 1965 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Economic and Social Council

ECOSOC 1945 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

UNECE 1947 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNESCO 1945 Paris France B g

United Nations Environment Programme

UNEP 1972 Nairobi Kenya E g

United Nations Foundation

UNF 1998 New York NY USA F f

United Nations Girls' Education Initiative

UNGEI 2000 New York NY USA F g

United Nations Global Compact

UNGC 2000 New York NY USA F y

United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names

UNGEGN 1959 New York NY USA E g

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNHCR 1951 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Human Rights Council

HRC 2006 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Institute for Training and Research

UNITAR 1963 Geneva Switzerland E gj

United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei

UNISFA 2011 F g

United Nations International Computing Centre

UNICC 1971 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute

UNICRI 1968 Turin Italy E gj

United Nations Mine Action Service

UNMAS 1997 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service

NGLS 1975 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Office at Geneva

UNOG Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

UNDRR 1999 Geneva Switzerland E g

United Nations Office for Project Services

UNOPS 1973 Copenhagen Denmark E g

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

OCHA 1992 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

UNODC 1997 Vienna Austria E g

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

UNPFII 2000 New York NY USA E g

United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia

UNRCCA 2007 Ashgabat Turkmenistan E g

United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe

UNRIC 2004 Brussels Belgium E g

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

UNRISD 1963 Geneva Switzerland E gjv

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