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Sustainable development

Convergence of Crises Threatens to Reverse UN Sustainable Development Goals Gains

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

As the world grapples with the converging global crises of climate change, increasing costs of living, food insecurity, and the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations is sounding the alarm that the gains achieved under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are at risk of being reversed. Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director, has warned that the current rates of progress on SDG5 (Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment) are off track, and that if left unaddressed, it will have far-reaching consequences for all SDGs.

Key Takeaways:

  • The UN has chosen the theme for commemorating the International Women's Day for 2023 to be "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality," highlighting the importance of harnessing technology to accelerate progress on the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
  • Globally, 259 million more men than women use the internet, and the exclusion of women and girls in the digital world could result in a loss of $1.5 trillion by 2025 in low and middle-income countries.
  • Despite their untold contributions to the digital world, women make up only 22% of AI workers, and 44% of AI systems reviewed demonstrate a gender bias.
  • Egypt, while doing relatively well in comparison to other African and Middle Eastern countries, still has a significant gap between women's educational attainment in STEM fields and their representation in the workforce.
  • The UN in Egypt is prioritizing gender equality and digital empowerment through its programmatic work, including the development of Egypt's Education Strategy 2.0 and the digital transformation strategy "Digital Egypt 2030."
  • The UN is leading several national initiatives to ensure digital inclusion for all, including the establishment of emergency response systems, digital literacy programs for girls' empowerment, and support for vaccination skills development and microloans.
  • The technology sector needs collaborative solutions to break barriers to digital access and improve online safety for girls and young women, and targeted measures are necessary to ensure that rural women, women living with disabilities, and older women equally benefit from the digital transformation.

Statistics:

  • 300 years: the estimated time it would take to achieve gender equality at the current rates of progress
  • 259 million: the number of more men than women who use the internet globally
  • $1.5 trillion: the estimated loss of digital opportunities for women and girls in low and middle-income countries by 2025
  • 22%: the percentage of AI workers who are women
  • 44%: the percentage of AI systems reviewed that demonstrate a gender bias
  • 21%: the percentage of women in the technology sector who face a gender pay gap
  • 50%: the percentage of STEM graduates who are women in Egypt
  • 2023-27: the timeframe for the new five-year cooperation framework between the Government of Egypt and the United Nations

Sources:

  • Sima Bahous, UN Women Executive Director
  • "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality" (International Women's Day 2023 theme)
  • United Nations (2023). Report of the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women
  • United Nations (2023). "Egypt's Education Strategy 2.0"
  • United Nations (2023). "Digital Egypt 2030"
  • Elena Panova, UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt
  • Christine Arab, UN Women Country Representative

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