Global Gender Equality: A Tale of Strides and Persistent Challenges

Strategic Insights -

The journey towards global gender equality is complex and still in its early stages, according to Yan Liang, Chair Professor of Economics at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Despite decades of efforts, achieving full gender equality will likely take centuries, she noted, citing the 15.4% progress made towards the 2030 targets for Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights acknowledges women's rights as a fundamental aspect of human rights.

Key Takeaways:

  • The global surge in women's empowerment has been significant, with 189 countries ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and nearly 100 countries enacting laws to protect women's rights over the past three decades.
  • The number of women in national parliaments has more than doubled globally over the past 30 years, with the percentage of seats held by women rising from 11.3% in 1995 to 27.2% in 2025.
  • Women's economic independence is improving, with 690 million women having lifted themselves out of extreme poverty in China by late 2020.
  • However, persistent disparities remain, with a "tale of two tiers" evident globally, where women's representation increases in high-level positions but stagnates at the grassroots level.
  • The pay gap between full-time, year-round workers in the US has remained largely stagnant, and in some measures, widened in recent years.
  • Restrictions on abortion access in the US have profoundly undermined women's reproductive rights and wellbeing, following the US Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
  • India's urban women are progressing, but rural women are regressing, highlighting the need for cross-country learning and the transferable lessons of China's approach to enhance women's societal participation.

Statistics:

  • With 189 countries having ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women over the past three decades, nearly 100 countries have enacted laws to protect women's rights.
  • The number of women in national parliaments has more than doubled, from 11.3% in 1995 to 27.2% in 2025.
  • 690 million women in China lifted themselves out of extreme poverty by late 2020.
  • The pay gap between full-time, year-round workers in the US has increased from 16% in 2022 to 17% in 2023.
  • Women constitute over 40% of China's workforce and more than half of its Internet startup founders.
  • Only 11% of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies in the US are women, a rise from 7.4% in 2020.

Sources:

  • Global Leaders' Meeting on Women (GLMW) in Beijing in mid-October
  • High-Level Conference on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on September 23
  • UN Women
  • UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' address at the High-Level Conference on the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women
  • Global Center for Women's Capacity Building at China Women's University in Beijing.