Global Annual Results Report 2022: Gender equality
Addressing gender inequalities and promoting women’s and girls’ empowerment and well-being to build an equal future for all children
Highlights
As the world continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating crises – from climate change to conflict – have exacerbated gender equality gaps, with devastating consequences. Millions of women and girls are experiencing heightened discrimination and violence, food and economic insecurity, barriers to education and jobs, and limited access to critical health and social services. Girls continue to be twice as likely as boys not to be engaged in any form of employment, education or training, and their digital access and literacy is particularly challenging. Globally, adolescent girls face information gaps and considerable restrictions on their choices regarding their sexual and reproductive health and rights, underscoring the importance of prioritizing investments in adolescent girls’ rights, including their voice, agency and leadership.
This report highlights progress towards achieving UNICEF’s ambitious targets for gender equality, as well as areas for future investment and improvement. In 2022, the first year of its new Gender Action Plan 2022-25, UNICEF reports significant progress on gender equality, from improvements in maternal health and girls’ education, to expanded coverage of gender-responsive social protection systems and mechanisms to tackle violence. Institutionally, UNICEF is strengthening its internal systems for accountability, achieving gender parity and conducting more gender analyses to inform strategic planning, including in emergencies.
Gender equality remains an inextricable link to all other outcomes in health, education, security, livelihoods and well-being. UNICEF is rallying behind women and girls as agents of change and progress, by working to transform and shift social norms and systemic barriers to gender equality.
With thanks
UNICEF’s work for children is funded entirely through individual donations and the voluntary support of our partners in government, civil society and the private sector. We take this opportunity to thank all our partners for their commitment and trust in UNICEF. We further express our sincere appreciation to all the partners that have contributed to our work to achieve greater gender equality in our humanitarian and development programming in 2022. It is their support that allows us to provide technical, operational and programming assistance to countries to address gender inequalities and impact the lives of millions of girls and boys, women and men across the world.
