The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) reports that developing countries are short $420 billion each year in the money needed to reach gender equality. This gap means programs for women and girls often get pushed aside or run out of cash.
“The money simply is not reaching the women and girls who need it most,” the group said as world leaders met in Sevilla, Spain, to talk about how to fund the Sustainable Development Goals. Gender equality is one of those goals, but right now, most countries don’t track how their budgets support women and girls. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda from UN Women said, “We cannot close gender gaps with budgets that are lacking a gender lens… Gender equality must move from the margins of the budget lines to the heart of public policy.”
UN Women says the world needs at least a decade of steady, targeted investment to close the gap. That means tracking where the money goes, funding programs that help women most, and building better public care systems—like child and elder care—so more women can work.
Debt makes things worse. Many countries spend so much paying back loans that they can’t invest in gender equality. UN Women welcomed the new Compromiso de Sevilla, a deal that includes fresh promises to fund gender equality.
Gumbonzvanda summed it up: “It takes money. It takes reform. And it takes leadership that sees women not as a cost, but as a future.” UN Women and other groups want governments to back up their promises with real action and real funding.
