Bending the Curve uses five of the key gender equality issues in the 2019 SDG Gender Index (sexual and reproductive health and rights, girls’ education, representation of women in leadership, laws on equality in the workplace, and safety) to answer questions about the pace and nature of change towards gender equality. Are countries moving towards greater equality or in the wrong direction? What are the prospects for bending the curve to reach the gender equality promises laid out in the SDGs by 2030?
The analysis finds that 67 countries – home to 2.1 billion girls and women – won’t achieve any of the gender equality targets by 2030 if their current pace of change continues. More than a third of countries studied have been moving slowly – or even in the wrong direction – on at least four of the five issues over the past decade or two.