More than 351 million women and girls could still be trapped in extreme poverty by the end of this decade if current global trends continue. That is the stark warning from the UN Women and UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ SDG Gender Snapshot 2025, which draws on over 100 data sources to assess progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The year 2025 carries symbolic weight, marking three major milestones: the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, and the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. Yet, the new report reveals sobering realities: none of the gender equality targets set under the SDGs are on track.
Female poverty has barely budged in half a decade, stuck at around 10 percent since 2020. Most women living in extreme poverty are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia, underscoring persistent inequalities in regions already hardest hit by economic instability.
Conflict Magnifies the Crisis
Armed conflicts have further deepened the crisis. In 2024, 676 million women and girls lived within reach of deadly conflict, the highest number since the 1990s. For those in war zones, the consequences stretch far beyond displacement, with heightened risks of food insecurity, health crises, and gender-based violence.
Violence against women remains a global epidemic. More than one in eight women experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner in the past year. Early marriage continues to strip away opportunities, with nearly one in five young women married before age 18. Female genital mutilation still affects an estimated four million girls annually, more than half before their fifth birthday.
Progress Where Equality is Prioritized
Despite grim statistics, the report highlights areas of real progress when gender equality is prioritized. Maternal mortality has fallen by nearly 40 percent since 2000, and girls are completing school at higher rates than ever before.
Sarah Hendriks, Director of Policy at UN Women, shared her perspective from Zimbabwe in the late 1990s, recalling that childbirth often meant risking death. Today, she says, that reality has shifted significantly thanks to investments in women’s health.
Technology also holds promise. Closing the digital gender gap—where 70 percent of men are online compared to 65 percent of women—could lift 30 million women out of poverty by 2030 and inject $1.5 trillion into the global economy.
Risks of Backlash and Neglect
However, these gains remain fragile. The report points to an unprecedented backlash against women’s rights, shrinking civic spaces, and defunding of gender equality initiatives. Gender data collection has also declined by 25 percent since 2019 due to reduced funding, leaving many women effectively “invisible” in policymaking.
“Where gender equality has been prioritized, it has propelled societies and economies forward,” said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous. “But without action, these hard-won gains risk being reversed.”
Persistent Gaps in Leadership and Power
Progress in political and economic representation remains painfully slow. Women hold only 27.2 percent of parliamentary seats worldwide, and their representation in local government has stalled at 35.5 percent. In management, women occupy just 30 percent of roles, and at this pace, parity is almost a century away.
The report frames 2025 as a decisive moment, stressing that gender equality is not an ideology but the foundation of peace, development, and human rights.
Six Priority Areas for Action
Anchored in the Beijing+30 Action Agenda, the Gender Snapshot 2025 outlines six urgent areas requiring accelerated investment and political will to meet the 2030 targets:
- Closing the digital divide to ensure equal access to technology.
- Eliminating poverty by expanding access to education and economic opportunities.
- Achieving zero tolerance for gender-based violence.
- Guaranteeing full and equal decision-making power for women at all levels.
- Strengthening peace and security by integrating women’s perspectives.
- Advancing climate justice with gender-sensitive policies.
A Call to Action
UN Women warns that without decisive interventions, the world risks losing another generation of progress. Yet the report also emphasizes that change is possible, and the returns are immense. Reducing the number of women in extreme poverty by 110 million by 2050 could unlock $342 trillion in cumulative economic benefits.
As Hendriks put it, the path forward depends on political will. “Change is absolutely possible, but it requires determined resolve from governments worldwide to make women’s rights and empowerment a reality once and for all.”
The choice is urgent: invest in women and girls now, or watch another decade pass with equality slipping further out of reach.
