UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) issued the Gender Snapshot 2025, which assesses progress towards the targets of SDG 5 (gender equality). The report shows that with investments, gender equality is within reach. Closing the gender digital divide alone could boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by USD 1.5 trillion, lifting 30 million women out of poverty.

The report comes in a year that marks three major milestones for women and girls: the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action; the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security; and the 80th anniversary of the UN.

The report reveals progress in several areas. Today, girls are more likely to complete school than ever before. Maternal mortality dropped nearly 40% between 2000 and 2023. Rates of intimate partner violence are 2.5 times lower in countries with comprehensive measures on violence than in those with weak protections. Women’s leadership in climate negotiations has increased twofold. In the past five years, 99 anti-discrimination laws were passed or updated. 

Yet, challenges remain. The report warns about “an unprecedented backlash on women’s rights,” the deadly impacts of conflict on women and girls, and food insecurity. In the past year, nearly one in five young women was married before the age of 18. Each year, 4 million girls undergo female genital mutilation (FGM), with over 2 million before age 5.

While “the world is retreating on gender equality,” a UN press release notes that “with investment and political will, this trend can be reversed.”

The report highlights six actions for all women and girls from the Beijing+30 Action Agenda to accelerate progress on the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the SDGs:

• Ensure women and girls can reap the economic benefits of the digital revolution, accessing new skills, opportunities, and services, by bridging the digital gender gap and providing equal access to technology;
• Address women’s poverty by investing national budgets in social protection and high-quality public services, including in women’s health, girls’ education, and care;
• Adopt, implement, and fund legislation to end violence against women and girls, and develop comprehensive national action plans, including support and coordination with community-led organizations to extend the reach of services;
• Accelerate the achievement of women’s full and equal decision-making power in private and public domains, and at all levels of government, including by applying special measures;
• Drive accountability for the women, peace, and security agenda and gender-responsive humanitarian action by adopting fully financed national action plans and funding the local women’s organizations leading responses to crises and conflicts; and
• Prioritize women and girls’ rights, including from rural and Indigenous communities, in the transition to environmental and biodiversity sustainability, by centering them in climate action, ensuring they can develop new skills to gain green jobs, and guaranteeing their access to productive assets and land rights.

The report was launched on 15 September 2025, ahead of the High-Level Week of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). [Publication: Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2025] [Publication Landing Page] [UN Women Press Release] [UN News Story]