Are You Ready to be a Champion for Gender Equality?

UN Women launches new initiative to accelerate gender equality amid COVID-19 pandemic

• Gender equality is a fundamental human right and a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world.
• Progress towards achieving gender equality by 2030 is falling behind, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made the situation even bleaker.
• Women's health services have faced major disruptions, and violence against women remains endemic.
• Commitment and bold action are needed to accelerate progress, including the promotion of laws, policies, budgets, and institutions that advance gender equality.
• Greater investment in gender statistics is vital, with less than half of the data required to monitor Goal 5 currently available.
• UN Women has developed a rapid and targeted response to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on women and girls and ensure that the long-term recovery benefits them, focused on five priorities.
• Gender-based violence, including domestic violence, is mitigated and reduced.
• The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for radical, positive action to redress long-standing inequalities in multiple areas of women's lives and build a more just and resilient world.
• The EU has made an initial investment of around EUR 500 million for the new initiative.
• The modality for the delivery will be a UN multi-stakeholder trust fund, administered by the Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office.
• All eyes are on the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• Less than 50% of working-age women are in the labor market, and unpaid domestic and care work falls disproportionately on women, restraining their economic potential as the COVID-19 pandemic additionally affects women's jobs and livelihoods.