GOAL 5: Gender Equality

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

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Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.

There has been progress over the last decades: More girls are going to school, fewer girls are forced into early marriage, more women are serving in parliament and positions of leadership, and laws are being reformed to advance gender equality.

Despite these gains, many challenges remain: discriminatory laws and social norms remain pervasive, women continue to be underrepresented at all levels of political leadership, and 1 in 5 women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 report experiencing physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner within a 12-month period.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could reverse the limited progress that has been made on gender equality and women’s rights.  The coronavirus outbreak exacerbates existing inequalities for women and girls across every sphere – from health and the economy, to security and social protection.

Women play a disproportionate role in responding to the virus, including as frontline healthcare workers and carers at home. Women’s unpaid care work has increased significantly as a result of school closures and the increased needs of older people. Women are also harder hit by the economic impacts of COVID-19, as they disproportionately work in insecure labour markets. Nearly 60 per cent of women work in the informal economy, which puts them at greater risk of falling into poverty.

The pandemic has also led to a steep increase in violence against women and girls. With lockdown measures in place, many women are trapped at home with their abusers, struggling to access services that are suffering from cuts and restrictions. Emerging data shows that, since the outbreak of the pandemic, violence against women and girls – and particularly domestic violence – has intensified.

Related Sessions

5 May 2020
18:00 - 19:30
Andy Coravos (Elektra Labs), Caitlin Kraft Buchman (Women@TheTable), Ida Tin (Clue)...
23 June 2020
17:00 - 18:00
Aylin Caliskan (George Washington University), Caitlin Kraft Buchman (Women@TheTable), Francesca Rossi (IBM T.J. Watson Research Lab)...
16 July 2020
17:30 - 18:15
Amir Banifatemi (AI Commons), Ania Calderon (Open Data Charter), Jaimie Boyd (Government of British Columbia)...
22 September 2020
17:00 - 19:15
22 September 2020
19:00 - 20:30
Aylin Caliskan (George Washington University), Caitlin Kraft Buchman (Women@TheTable), Francesca Rossi (IBM T.J. Watson Research Lab)...
26 November 2020
14:00 - 15:00
Alexandra Rizzi (Accion), Kanwaljit Singh (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), LJ Rich (Perfect Pitch Productions)...
19 February 2021
15:00 - 15:30
20 April 2021
16:00 - 17:00
Andy Miah (University of Salford), Dikaia Chatzieftstathiou (Canterbury Christ Church University), LJ Rich (Perfect Pitch Productions)...
25 May 2021
15:00 - 16:00
24 May 2022
16:00 - 17:30
Beth Rudden (IBM Consulting), Christina Montgomery (IBM), Francesca Rossi (IBM T.J. Watson Research Lab)...
26 May 2022
14:00 - 16:30
Jennifer Woodard (Insikt Intelligence), Kepeng Li (Tencent), Lia DiBello (Applied Cognitive Sciences Labs Inc.)...
3 August 2022
15:00 - 16:05
10 August 2022
15:00 - 16:00
31 August 2022
15:00 - 16:00
20 September 2022
16:00 - 18:30
Jennifer Woodard (Insikt Intelligence), Andrew Plato (Zenaciti), Ian F. Akyildiz (ITU-J FET)...
9 November 2022
16:00 - 17:15
23 November 2022
16:00 - 17:30
5 July 2023
14:00 - 17:30
6 July 2023
09:00 - 17:30
6 July 2023
09:00 - 17:30
Doreen Bogdan, Martin (ITU), LJ Rich (Perfect Pitch Productions), Maria Antonia Brovelli (Politecnico di Milano)...
7 July 2023
09:00 - 17:30
Alessandra Sala (Shutterstock), Orly Lobel (University of San Diego), Samantha Maloney (The Surfrajettes)
20 July 2023
17:00 - 18:30
Andrea Michi (Google DeepMind), Daniel Mankowitz (Google DeepMind), Bastiaan Quast (International Telecommunication Union)
10 August 2023
16:00 - 16:45
30 August 2023
16:00 - 16:10
13 September 2023
16:00 - 17:00
Gary Marcus (NYU), H.E. Mr. Jürg Lauber (Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva), Jennifer Woodard (Insikt Intelligence)...
17 November 2023
11:00 - 12:00
3 January 2024
11:00 - 14:00
23 February 2024
11:00 - 11:45
Janet Adams (SingularityNET), Thomas Schneider (Swiss Federal Office of Communications), Frits Bussemaker (I4ADA)
17 April 2024
11:00 - 11:25
Anne Hunger (Glüxkind Technologies), Ella (Glüxkind Technologies), Kevin Huang (Glüxkind Technologies)
30 May 2024
09:00 - 17:30
31 May 2024
13:00 - 13:45
3 October 2024
16:30 - 18:00
Alexandra Darby (FEMYSO), Catherine Miller (European AI & Society Fund), Daria Ciufudean (National Student Council of Romania)...
10 December 2024
11:00 - 12:00
Load more...

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UN AI Actions

United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC)
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF)
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
United Nations Women (UNWomen)
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

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