Gender Snapshot 2026

Why in News?

The recent Gender Snapshot 2026 warns that global progress towards gender equality and SDG 5 is significantly off track for 2030.

Gender Snapshot 2026

• Released by – UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).

• Key Finding
• SDG – According to the report, none of the targets under Sustainable Development Goal 5 are currently on track to be achieved by 2030.
• At the current rate of progress, achieving gender equality may take an estimated 171 years.

SDG 5 Gender Equality – To achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

• Women's Representation in Political Power
• Currently, men serve as heads of government in 6 out of 7 countries worldwide.
• In 2026, women are projected to occupy 27.4 percent of national parliamentary seats.
• Since 2023, women's representation in local government has remained at 35.6 percent.
• Approximately 90 percent of defence ministers globally are men.
• Over 80 percent of finance ministers worldwide are men.
• In certain countries, as many as 80 percent of women candidates experience violence in public life.
• Additional Gaps in Leadership Representation
• Globally, women hold approximately 6 percent of corporate chief executive officer (CEO) positions.
• Women preside over fewer than 20 percent of the highest courts worldwide.
• Gender Equality and Economic Security
• Poverty Rates in 2024
  • The proportion of women living in extreme poverty is 9.9 percent.
  • The proportion of men living in extreme poverty is 9.5 percent.
• Food Security
  • If current trends continue, 1.1 billion women and girls are projected to remain food insecure by 2030.
  • Eliminating gender disparities in agricultural productivity has the potential to lift 45 million people out of food insecurity.
• Unpaid Care Work – Women spend approximately 2.5 times as many hours as men on unpaid domestic and care work.
• Violence and Harmful Practices
• Approximately one in three women worldwide has experienced intimate partner or sexual violence in her lifetime.
• An estimated 316 million women experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner in the past 12 months.
• Nearly one in five girls is married before reaching the age of 18.
• Approximately 230 million women and girls have survived female genital mutilation (FGM).
• The Gender Gap in Technology
• Representation in Artificial Intelligence – Globally, women represent approximately 22% of professionals in the field of artificial intelligence.
• Women occupy fewer than 14% of senior leadership positions in artificial intelligence.
• Gender and Climate Change
• Approximately 2.9 billion women and girls reside in countries that are highly or very highly exposed to climate change and geophysical hazards.
• Women hold only 27 percent of national cabinet positions that oversee environmental portfolios.

Reference

Down to Earth | Gender Snapshot Report