No country in the world is on track to achieve gender equality by 2030, according to the first index to measure progress against a set of internationally agreed targets.
193 countries signed up to gender commitments in the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) in 2015.
The inaugural SDG Gender Index, developed by the Equal Measures 2030 partnership, ranks New Zealand 11th globally.
New Zealand is one of two Asia-Pacific countries in the top 20 worldwide. There is also a significant gap separating the region’s top two performers (Australia and New Zealand) from Japan (in 3rd place).
While several Asia-Pacific countries have elected female heads of government in recent years – including New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand – the region is the second worst performer globally on the measure of women’s ability to rise to the top ranks. Only three countries in the region (New Zealand amongst them) are more than half way toward the target of full gender parity in ministries or senior government positions. The other two are Indonesia and Philippines.
Four years ago, governments, civil society and the private sector lined up behind the Sustainable Development Agenda: an ambitious, universal and indivisible set of goals and targets promising to transform our world. With just 11 years to go, it is the right time to ask: will we get there?