Gender equality is central to sustainable development and is a crucial enabler of global security, stability and prosperity, but progress is stagnating or regressing across much of the developing world. Meanwhile, international support is declining amid political opposition to gender equality initiatives and steep cuts to foreign aid by a number of donors, most notably the United States. 

This report assesses the current situation and suggests changes to reverse the regression of gender equality in the developing world.

Key findings

• Basic rights and wellbeing outcomes for women and girls globally are regressing or stalling. Cuts to foreign aid and a growing hostility towards gender equality programs risk eroding hard-won gains and turning the trend into a crisis.
• Rising international aid for gender equality has disguised a stagnation of targeted funding for core issues such as healthcare, education, physical safety and legal rights. This funding gap is widest in conflict zones and disaster-affected areas, where women and girls are often the most at risk and the least supported.
• The most effective solution is to ''upstream'' gender equality aid directly into international development funding of core sectors, rather than treating it as an add-on. Anchoring this approach with a clear funding commitment would help protect these programs and deliver better outcomes for the world’s most vulnerable women and girls.

The report has an audio option.