Massive annual deficiency of US$420 billion hindering progress towards gender equality in developing nations
UN Women Urges Action on Gender Equality Funding Gap
UN Women has called on world leaders to prioritize long-term human development goals, including gender equality, peacebuilding, and inclusive social development, by rebalancing public spending. The recommendation comes as the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Sevilla, Spain, concluded.
The agency is urging governments and financial institutions to move from promises to tangible, sustained investment in women's rights and services. UN Women is putting forth concrete recommendations to accelerate progress for women and girls and towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development commitments.
One of the key recommendations is the adoption of gender-responsive budgeting. This involves governments analyzing budgets and public expenditures through a gender lens to ensure that funding contributes to closing gender gaps in health, education, employment, and protection against violence.
Another crucial aspect is debt relief. Given the high debt burdens faced by many countries, UN Women advocates for targeted debt relief measures that free up fiscal space for investing in gender equality policies.
UN Women also calls for a shift in public spending to prioritize sectors and services that support women’s economic empowerment and social protection. This means increasing investments in areas such as reproductive health, education, social protection programs, and measures to close the gender pay gap.
Recognizing the unpaid and underpaid care work mostly done by women, UN Women urges substantial investments in public care infrastructure and services, including child care, elder care, and health services. Strengthening care systems not only supports women’s participation in the labor market but also promotes shared responsibilities between genders.
The agency's recommendations reflect a broader call for an integrated approach combining legal equality, economic empowerment, and social protection to achieve full gender equality by 2030. The focus remains on policies and finance related to gender equality on a global scale.
Implementing urgent debt relief, fairer global financing rules, and progressive, gender-responsive tax reform are also urged. Despite the growing uptake of gender-responsive budgeting, only one in four countries has systems in place to track how public funds are allocated to gender equality. Most global financing continues to bypass the poorest countries, where the majority of low-income women live and where investment is most urgently needed.
UN Women's call for action is directed towards governments and financial institutions. The agency reiterates the need to close the gap and deliver on promises to half the world's population. The US$420 billion gap in funding for gender equality under the Sustainable Development Goals remains unaddressed.
[1] UN Women (2022). Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2022. [Online]. Available: https://genderstats.unwomen.org/en/progress-on-the-sdgs-the-gender-snapshot-2022
[2] UN Women (2022). Financing for gender equality: A roadmap to action. [Online]. Available: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2022/03/financing-for-gender-equality-a-roadmap-to-action
- UN Women advocates for governments and financial institutions to prioritize sectors and services that support women's economic empowerment and social protection, including investing in reproductive health, education, social protection programs, and measures to close the gender pay gap, as part of their recommendations to accelerate progress for women and girls and towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development commitments.
- UN Women is urging for substantial investments in public care infrastructure and services, such as child care, elder care, and health services, recognizing the unpaid and underpaid care work mostly done by women, and strengthening care systems not only supports women’s participation in the labor market but also promotes shared responsibilities between genders.
