Gender Equality now predicted to be 300 Years Away

Women-led and women’s rights organizations are on the frontlines of today’s humanitarian crises—but many are at risk of disappearing. As global needs rise due to conflict, climate change, and displacement, deep cuts to foreign aid are threatening organizations that provide life-saving services for women and girls.

In March 2025, UN Women conducted a rapid global survey to understand how these funding reductions are affecting local women-led groups in crisis settings. The survey reached 411 organizations across 44 countries. The results are alarming: 90 per cent of respondents said their operations were financially impacted, nearly half expect to shut down within six months, and most have already reduced staff or suspended key services.

The report highlights the steep consequences of shrinking humanitarian support. Programs that protect women and girls are being cut back just as needs intensify. Women’s organizations serving refugees, LGBTIQ+ people, women with disabilities, and Indigenous communities report rising violence and harmful coping strategies like child marriage and survival sex.

But this report also shows resilience. Many women’s organizations are adjusting their strategies and calling on the international community to act.

Speaking to the key UN women’s rights group ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2025, Secretary General António Guterres said gender equality is “300 years away” according to the latest estimates from UN Women, the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, violent conflict, climate change, and the backlash against women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are further exacerbating gender disparities. The new report, launched today by UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), highlights that, at the current pace of progress, SDG 5—achieving gender equality—will not be met by 2030.

Without swift action, legal systems that do not ban violence against women, do not protect women’s rights in marriage and family—for instance, denying women their right to pass on their nationality to their children, or to inherit—do not provide them with equal pay and benefits at work, and do not guarantee their equal rights to own and control land, may continue to exist for generations to come.

At the current rate of progress, the report estimates that it will take up to 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws, 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of power and leadership in the workplace, and at least 40 years to achieve equal representation in national parliaments. To eradicate child marriage by 2030, progress must be 17 times faster than progress of the last decade, with girls from the poorest rural households and in conflict-affected areas expected to suffer the most.

This report showcases that cooperation, partnerships, and investments in the gender equality agenda, including through increased global and national funding, are essential to correct the course and place gender equality back on track.

The accountability report illustrates how Generation Equality has become a powerful catalyst, aligning with the vision of the 2024 Summit of the Future, particularly in promoting effective global cooperation and accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. An overwhelming 94 per cent of commitment makers advocate for scaling up Generation Equality’s actions beyond 2026.

In this post pandemic world, saturated in war zones ( 52 in current action news reports ), the one goal that has been hurt the most once again, is Gender Equality. Historically, most women have held a back seat to all facets of life, including basic necessity. The good news is that many women’s organizations are adjusting their strategies and calling on the international community to act.

The message is loud and clear – Women, do not surrender to this entropic chaos and Take Action.