Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2024

Poverty among women is declining too slowly to meet global targets. As of 2024, there were 24.3 million more women than men living in extreme poverty, that is, on less than 2.15 US dollars per day. At the current rate, it will take another 137 years (after 2030) to eradicate poverty for women. These figures mark little improvement from previous years.

Food insecurity is deepening gender inequality. Women remain significantly more food insecure than men with 26.7 per cent of adult women across the world being food insecure compared to 25.4 per cent adult men. This amounts to around 47.8 million more women than men. This gap persists even though women play critical roles in agriculture and food systems.

Access to clean energy remains unequal and gendered. Lack of clean cooking fuel is costing women time and health. In many low- and middle-income countries, women can spend up to 40 hours a week collecting fuel and cooking, the process exposing them to harmful emissions. Universal access to clean cooking solutions could dramatically reduce time poverty (a condition where individuals lack time for rest or paid work due to unpaid responsibilities) among women.

Women are more vulnerable to job losses due to artificial intelligence (AI) than men. Globally, 3.7 per cent of jobs held by women are at high risk of replacement by AI, compared to 1.4 per cent of jobs held by men. This disparity stems from occupational segregation, where women are overrepresented in administrative and clerical roles, considered to be more easily automated.

Women remain underrepresented in political and economic leadership. In 2023, women held just 26.9 per cent of parliamentary seats and 27.5 per cent of managerial positions worldwide. While these figures show modest increases from previous years, they remain far below gender parity, undermining SDG Target 5.5 – ensuring women’s full participation and equal opportunities for leadership in political, economic and public life.

Violence against women is on the rise in conflict zones. The number of women and girls living within 50 kilometres of conflict zones rose to 612 million in 2023, and verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence increased by 50 per cent from the previous year. These figures reflect deepening insecurity and the need for gender-responsive peacebuilding and humanitarian efforts.

The report notes that women constitute less than 40 per cent of agricultural land owners in most countries, affecting their access to income and decision-making power in food systems.

By 2050, up to 158 million more women and girls may fall into poverty due to climate-related disruptions. Moreover, women are less likely to receive early warnings and are often excluded from climate response decisions.

Focus and Factoids by Shaurya Singh.

PARI Library’s health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.