Collection

UN Global Goal 5: Gender Equality

Solutions Journalism Network

Achieving gender parity is a necessary precondition for the UN Global Goals. While the steady decline of practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation since the year 2000 signals progress, serious challenges remain with regard to women’s political representation, marriage and reproductive rights, sexual and reproductive health, domestic violence, and the relative value of their work.

Empowering women requires addressing disenfranchisement at its root causes. This can be done by working to change social norms, legal frameworks, and discriminating policies that define patriarchal societies. The UN’s targets for ending all discrimination against women and girls include, but are not limited to:

  • Ending violence against women, as well as the exploitation, and trafficking of all women and girls.
  • Recognizing unpaid work and addressing the burdens of inequitable domestic responsibility.
  • Ensuring access to healthcare, including reproductive and sexual health.
  • Strengthening policies that provide women with access to economic resources such as property, income, and financial services.

In this collection, we see examples of ways that city planners and researching are taking the needs of women into consideration, from India to Sweden. Where resources or support might be scarce, we learn how NGOs can assist. In Morocco, for example, Project Soar has ensured that hundreds of young women finish school. The project not only provides supplemental educational programs, but also teaches the girls self-advocacy. Explore the rest of the stories in this collection to learn  about the solutions working to eliminate barriers and level the playing field for women and girls.

Click here for more stories in the Solutions Story Tracker on gender equality.

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