No country achieved gender equality: The SDG gender index findings

The 2024 SDG Gender Index Report states that no country has reached the UN’s vision of gender equality set for 2030. In fact, between 2019 and 2022, nearly 40% of countries with over a billion women and girls saw no progress and a decline in gender equality. The index, which measures progress toward gender equality across 139 countries, assigned its lowest rating of “very poor” to 45 countries, including much of West, Central, and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia such as Bangladesh and Myanmar.

In total, 857 million women and girls live in these “very poor” rated nations, facing severe challenges like forced pregnancies, child marriages, and bans from secondary education. Moreover, another 1.5 billion women live in countries with a “poor” rating. Switzerland remains the only country with a “very good” score.

This troubling data raises a significant concern. Are we witnessing stagnation or a setback in gender equality? Are the efforts to achieve gender equality heading in the wrong direction?