This publication is the latest instalment in the annual series jointly produced by UN Women and UN DESA. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of gender equality progress across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Halfway to the end point of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development the world is failing to achieve gender equality making it an increasingly distant goal. If current trends continue more than 340 million women and girls will still live in extreme poverty by 2030 and close to one in four will experience moderate or severe food insecurity. Growing vulnerability brought on by human-induced climate change is likely to worsen this outlook as many as 236 million more women and girls will be food-insecure under a worst-case climate scenario. The gender gap in power and leadership positions remains entrenched and at the current rate of progress the next generation of women will still spend on average 2.3 more hours per day on unpaid care and domestic work than men. No country is within reach of eradicating intimate partner violence and women’s share of workplace management positions will remain below parity even by 2050. Fair progress has been made in girls’ education but completion rates remain below the universal mark. With the clock ticking urgency mounts. This report advocates for an integrated holistic approach to advancing gender equality involving multistakeholder collaboration and sustained financial backing. Neglecting to amplify efforts and invest in gender parity jeopardizes the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

A year and a half into the pandemic progress towards expanding women’s rights and opportunities continues to be tested and impeded. Women’s economic losses have not rebounded hunger is on the rise and school closures threaten to destroy girl’s educational gains. Women’s participation in government research and resource management remains far from equal. Vulnerable groups of women - including migrants those with disabilities and those affected by conflict – are too frequently left out and left behind and disparities between rich and poor countries are preventing equal access to lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. But swift action and targeted interventions can halt the decline and drive forward equal rights for women and girls. The 2021 Gender Snapshot: Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals brings together the latest evidence on gender equality across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals taking stock of the progress achieved and the challenges that remain.

Are we on track to achieve Goal 5? On 24 and 25 September 2019 Heads of State and Government gathered at UN Headquarters in New York to comprehensively review progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. To inform those discussions UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs have released “Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2019”. This publication brings together the latest available evidence on gender equality across all 17 Goals underscoring the progress made as well as the action still needed to accelerate progress.