UN report warns of political retreat on gender equality | Report

One in three institutions built to advance gender equality has been stripped of power over the past two years, according to a new report released on 17 September 2026 by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). The Gender Snapshot 2026 report warns that a deliberate political retreat from gender equality is reversing decades of progress and calls for equal power for women everywhere, according to a press release. The findings show that where women hold real power, outcomes improve across every dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Yet institutions built over decades to advance gender equality are being systematically weakened. The report argues that no vision for the future of the world is credible without women and girls having an equal share of power in shaping it.

The Gender Snapshot report is the world’s leading source of data on gender equality and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It draws from more than 100 data sources and tracks progress for women and girls across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The findings come at a consequential moment for the multilateral system. World leaders are gathering for the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA81) as the United Nations moves towards selecting its tenth Secretary-General. No woman has held that position in the UN’s 80-year history.

The report reveals that one in three institutional mechanisms for gender equality has had its institutional power eroded over the past two years. Around one in four have seen their operating budgets cut over the same period, and nearly one in ten have lost control of their budget altogether. Funding for gender equality has fallen to its lowest level since 2021, with funding for women’s rights organizations most impacted. Amid these funding cuts, 42 per cent of UN entities report a weakening of their gender equality efforts. Not one single indicator on Sustainable Development Goal 5 is on track to be met by 2030.

The concentration of political power remains stark, with six in seven countries led by men. The cost of running for office can exceed 100 times a country’s average per-capita income, excluding many women before the race even begins. In some countries, as many as eight in 10 women running for office face violence in public life. Close to nine in 10 defense ministers and more than eight in 10 finance ministers are men. Beyond government, women hold only six per cent of corporate Chief Executive Officer positions globally and lead fewer than 20 per cent of the highest courts.

“The evidence is clear: when women lead, societies are stronger, economies are more resilient and outcomes are better for everyone. Yet as long as power remains concentrated in institutions that systematically exclude women, societies will continue to fall short of their full potential. Equality cannot be achieved without equal access to power—because equality without power is not equality at all,” said UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous. UN Women and UN DESA are calling for a reversal of the political retreat on gender equality and for power to be shared more equally. That means ensuring women have an equal voice in political and economic decisions, properly funding gender equality institutions, and protecting women’s rights organizations and civic space.