Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2020

The year 2020 was supposed to be momentous—in a good way. Around the globe, world leaders and women’s rights activists had planned to celebrate the anniversaries of key legal and policy innovations that have cemented women’s rights as human rights into international law, including the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted those plans and may reverse many of the hard-won gains of the past two decades. Women and girls are facing acute hardships, including higher rates of poverty, increased care burdens, and greater exposure to violence. Child marriage is also projected to increase. This year’s edition of “Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot” brings together the latest available evidence on gender equality across all 17 Goals, underscoring the progress made, but also the progress interrupted as a result of COVID-19.