HALFWAY THROUGH THE 2030 AGENDA, GENDER EQUALITY PROGRESSES SLOWLY.

The fifth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5) as part of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda addresses gender equality. Comprising five goals and three sub-goals with their indicators and sub-indicators, SDG 5 proposes to: "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls." (UN BR, 2015) On the one hand, eliminating gender discrimination and violence by 2030 is central to SDG 5; on the other hand, achieving this Goal is also strategic for advancing the other 16 Goals that complete the Agenda mentioned above agreed upon by the 193 UN member countries. So, achieving SDG 5 is strategic because, among other no less relevant reasons, according to the World Bank (2024), if we all successfully eliminate discriminatory or restrictive laws and practices against women in the labor market, global GDP would increase by more than 20%, with a profound positive impact on the growth rate in the 2030s. However, the achievement of SDG 5 seems increasingly distant. Judging by the indices published in the 2023 Gender Panorama (United Nations, 2023a), the goals are primarily challenging, and the global impact of this challenge cannot be overstated.