17 September 2026
The Gender
Snapshot 2026 report, released today by UN Women and
the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(UN DESA), shows that where women hold real power, outcomes
improve across every dimension of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development – from peace to education, and from
poverty to climate action. Yet the very institutions built
over decades to advance gender equality are being
systematically weakened, stalling or reversing progress at
precisely the moment when the world cannot afford to go
backwards.
The findings of the Gender
Snapshot 2026 report reveal a political retreat from
gender equality that is crosscutting, measurable, and
compounding. One in three institutional mechanisms for
gender equality has had its institutional power eroded over
the past two years. Around one in four have seen their
operating budgets cut over the same period, and nearly one
in ten have lost control of their budget altogether. Funding
for gender equality has fallen to its lowest level since
2021, with funding for women’s rights organizations most
impacted. Meanwhile, amid funding cuts, 42 per cent of UN
entities report a weakening of their gender equality
efforts.
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The concentration of political power remains
stark: six in seven countries are led by men. Women continue
to face systemic barriers at every stage. The cost of
running for office can exceed 100 times a country’s
average per-capita income, excluding many women before the
race even begins. In some countries, as many as eight in 10
women running for office face violence in public life. And
when women do reach cabinet, they are still
disproportionately steered away from the portfolios that
command the highest security and economic power. Close to
nine in 10 defense ministers and more than eight in 10
finance ministers are men.
As women continue to face
barriers to equal participation and influence, decades of
political and legal gains on gender equality are
increasingly being contested and, in some cases, dismantled.
Not one single indicator on the Sustainable Development Goal
for gender equality (SDG 5) is on track to be met by
2030.
“The evidence is clear: when women lead,
societies are stronger, economies are more resilient and
outcomes are better for everyone. Yet as long as power
remains concentrated in institutions that systematically
exclude women, societies will continue to fall short of
their full potential. Equality cannot be achieved without
equal access to power—because equality without power is
not equality at all,” said UN Women Executive Director
Sima Bahous.
“The data leave no room for ambiguity: at
current rates gender equality remains 171 years away. What
theGender Snapshot2026shows is that this is not
inevitable — it is the result of choices, made visible
through data. Investing ingender equality, institutions,
and the statistical systems that hold them to account is not
a cost. It is the fastest route back to the 2030 Agenda’s
promise of equal power for all,” said Li Junhua, United
Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social
Affairs.
The pattern extends beyond government. Women
hold only six per cent of corporate Chief Executive Officer
positions globally and lead fewer than 20 per cent of the
highest courts, leaving the decisions shaping business, law,
employment, and the global economy overwhelmingly in the
hands of men.
The findings of the report come at a
consequential moment for the multilateral system. World
leaders are gathering for the 81st Session of the UN General
Assembly (UNGA81) as the United Nations moves towards
selecting its tenth Secretary-General – a position that no
woman has held in the UN’s 80-year history. As governments
debate the future of multilateralism, the report argues that
no vision for the future of the world is credible without
women and girls having an equal share of power in shaping
it.
UN Women and UN DESA are calling for a reversal of
the political retreat on gender equality – and for power to
be shared more equally. That means ensuring women have an
equal voice in political and economic decisions, properly
funding gender equality institutions, protecting women’s
rights organizations and civic space, and ensuring women
have equal power to shape the decisions that affect
economies, peace and security, technology and public
life.
The Gender Snapshot report is the
world’s leading source of data on gender equality and the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Drawing from more
than 100 data sources, it tracks progress for women and
girls across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs).
*Data refer to all gender equality mechanisms.
Institutional Mechanisms for Gender Equality or gender
equality mechanisms refer to state-based structures mandated
to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and
girls (e.g., ‘ministry of women and child development’,
’directorate of gender equality’). These mechanisms are
responsible for promoting the rights, status, and well-being
of women and girls, and for addressing discriminatory gender
norms.
