Global Humanitarian Overview 2023

Equality for women and girls moves even further out of reach

Gender inequalities are being exacerbated worldwide, caused by the overlapping impacts of COVID-19, rising economic instability, conflict and increasing food insecurity. World Economic Forum projections highlight that at the current rate of progress, it will take 132 years – or the equivalent of four generations – to achieve global gender parity. This is an increase of one generation compared to the pre-pandemic projections.

Women’s poverty continues to increase worldwide. Globally, 388 million women and girls are living in extreme poverty in 2022 (compared to 372 million men and boys) – the vast majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia (244 million and 81 million respectively). More women than men lost jobs during the pandemic, with 47 million jobs lost globally in 2020: a 3.6 per cent loss for women, compared to 2.9 per cent for men. In 2021, there were still 20 million fewer jobs for women than before the pandemic, compared to 10 million fewer for men. Women have also continued to shoulder more of the emotional and economic burden of unpaid care , including in childcare, housework or care for family members.

The pandemic has affected the everyday lives of girls, including their physical and mental health, education, and the economic circumstances of their families and communities, exacerbating the risks of GBV worldwide.

Reported cases of GBV surged during the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Nearly one in every two women across 13 countries surveyed reported that they or a woman they know had experienced at least one form of violence since the pandemic began. Before the pandemic, 100 million girls were already at risk of child marriage in the next decade; 13 million more girls are now assessed to be at risk of becoming child brides due to the pandemic. This increase is set to reverse 25 years of progress, which saw child marriage rates decline.

Women living in crisis settings are particularly vulnerable, with fraying social fabrics and institutions surrounding them. Armed conflict, natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies can significantly weaken a society’s ability to protect women and girls from GBV, fueling a rise in intimate-partner violence, child, early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and sexual violence, exploitation and abuse. Many armed groups use sexual violence as a tactic of war to advance military or political aims. While conflict-related sexual violence remained significantly underreported in 2021, 97 per cent of recorded survivors were women and girls. In 2021, 15 countries reported and verified conflict-related sexual violence targeting women and girls where, for example, women were impeded from participating in social, political and economic life, and were forced to trade sex for food, money and other resources they need to survive. In Somalia, 50 per cent of women reportedly experienced intimate-partner violence in the first quarter of 2022, compared with 43 per cent in the same period in 2021.

Afghanistan

Paktya, Afghanistan

A girl attends Halima Khazan school in Gardez city.

UNICEF/Omid Fazel

Displacement creates additional challenges for girls. Displaced girls living in camps or fleeing violence are particularly vulnerable to targeting by traffickers and other opportunists. For example, in the unfolding displacement crisis in Ukraine, women and girls fleeing the fighting and violence are at increased risk of GBV, sex trafficking and sexual exploitation., Displaced girls face more barriers to education than boys: Adolescent women and girls in conflict areas are 90 per cent more likely to be out of school compared to those living in countries where there is no crisis.

Violations of women’s and girls’ rights, — including harassment, violence, restrictions to freedom of movement, and access to public space and education — are particularly severe in countries with an HRP, such as Afghanistan, DRC, Chad and Mali, all of which were assigned the lowest gender gap rating in 2022. In Afghanistan, restrictions on movement, school closures, low economic and political participation, and a lack of access to basic services have affected women and girls disproportionately: In 27 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, girls are systematically barred from grades 7 to 12.,

Overall, the voices of women and girls remain underrepresented in humanitarian decision-making. To promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, humanitarian actors must understand their specific needs better, facilitate their meaningful participation and leadership in decision-making, and prioritize the prevention, risk mitigation of and response to GBV.

References

  1. World Economic Forum, 2022. Global Gender Gap Report 2022. The Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment). It is the longest-standing index, which tracks progress towards closing these gaps over time since its inception in 2006.
  2. UN Women, Poverty Deepens for Women and Girls, According to Latest Projections, 1 February 2022. In a “high-damage” scenario, this number could balloon to 446 million (427 million for men and boys).
  3. UN Women/UNDP, 2022. Government responses to COVID-19: Lessons on gender equality for a world in turmoil
  4. UN Women/Ibid.
  5. UNICEF, Child marriage threatens the lives, well-being and futures of girls around the world. Last updated June 2022.
  6. United Nations, Report of the Secretary-General on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, S/2022/272, 29 March 2022.
  7. United Nations, Report of the Secretary-General on the Protection of Civilians, S/2022/381, 10 May 2022.
  8. United Nations, Report of the Secretary-General on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, S/2022/272,, 29 March 2022.
  9. UNFPA, Somalia Situation Report – June 2022.
  10. IDMC, Women and Girls in Internal Displacement, 5 March 2020.
  11. UNODC, Conflict in Ukraine: Key Evidence On Risks Of Trafficking In Persons And Smuggling Of Migrants, Update July 2022; UNHCR, Ukraine Situation -Moldova: GBV Sub-Working Group Gender-Based Violence Safety Audit Report, September 2022.
  12. IDMC, Women and Girls in Internal Displacement, 5 March 2020, p. 14.
  13. Education Cannot Wait, Girls in Crisis – Orange the World.
  14. World Economic Forum, 2022. Global Gender Gap Report 2022.
  15. UNHCR, Afghanistan Humanitarian Crisis.
  16. Human Rights Watch, Afghanistan: Taliban Deprive Women of Livelihoods, Identity, 18 January 2022.