Published September 08,2022
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A new United Nations report has found persistent levels of inequality between men and women worldwide, with poverty levels increasing among women and girls and full gender equality still centuries away.
"It is critical that we rally now to invest in women and girls to reclaim and accelerate progress. The data show undeniable regressions in their lives made worse by the global crises – in incomes, safety, education and health," said Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women.
Far greater efforts were needed in order to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality by 2030, Bahous said at the launch of the Gender Snapshot 2022 in New York on Wednesday.
Some 44 million women and girls were displaced from their homes by the end of 2021, more than ever before, she said. adding that some 1.2 billion women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 were living in places where access to safe abortion is restricted.
The report stresses that equal access to education would significantly improve living conditions for women and girls.
However, the report calculated that if discriminatory laws continue to be abolished and gaps in legal protection closed at the current rate, it would be almost 300 years until equality between men and women could be achieved.
"Without swift action, legal systems that do not ban violence against women, do not protect women's rights in marriage and family, for instance denying women their right to pass on their nationality to their children, or to inherit, do not provide them with equal pay and benefits at work, do not guarantee their equal rights to own and control land, may continue to exist for generations to come," the report warned.
