Everyone needs Equality Now

Individuals, communities, nations, industries, economies, the environment. A just world for women and girls is a better world for all.

Gender Equality is the key to a more peaceful, prosperous, sustainable society: why the world cannot afford to wait any longer

As the UN marks 30 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Global Executive Director of Equality Now, Mona Sinha, takes a closer look at why everyone needs equality now.

$12tn

Estimated 10-year increase in global GDP resulting from equal participation of women in the workforce
– McKinsey Global Institute 2015.

150m

Estimated worldwide reduction in the number of people going hungry if women had equal access to resources like land and credit
– FAO 2011.

+35%

The increased likelihood that peace agreements will last 15 years or more when women are involved in negotiations
– UN Women 2015.

0

The number of countries that have delivered full legal equality for all women and girls
– World Bank Group 2024.

Why we don’t have equality yet

In 1995, at the Fourth World Conference on Women, 189 governments agreed to a global blueprint for women’s rights and equality. Thirty years on, legal inequality persists across the world. And in some cases, it’s getting worse.

In the sixth edition of our flagship Words & Deeds report, we examine how governments have failed to repeal or amend sex-discriminatory laws and highlight the urgent reforms needed to achieve full legal equality for women and girls.

How we’re driving legal and systemic change

At Equality Now, we combine deep legal expertise with global reach and influence to demand, shape and steer the change needed to secure enduring gender equality and create a just world for all women and girls. 

Since our inception in 1992, we’ve played a pivotal role in the reform of 130 discriminatory laws worldwide – positively impacting the lives of millions of women and girls, their communities and nations, both now and for generations to come.

How to get involved if you…

Represent an international
or regional body.

Represent a government
or parliamentary body.

Work in the judiciary
or law enforcement.

Work in civil society.

Represent a funding body.

Are an interested individual.

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