Together, we have made the world a safer and fairer place. More girls are in school than ever before. Fewer women are dying in childbirth. Women are leading countries, negotiating peace agreements, and driving climate solutions.
But right now, that progress is in jeopardy.
From rising gender-based violence, to rollbacks on reproductive rights and restrictions on political participation, too many are being silenced, sidelined, and stripped of hard-won rights.
Together with 20 organisations, we are calling on the UK Government to protect progress on gender equality, before it’s too late.
What’s at stake?
For a generation, the world has moved towards greater gender equality. But that progress is now at risk.
Women are:
-
80 %
of those displaced by climate change
-
60 %
of the world's severely hungry
-
2 x
as likely to experience sexual or physical violence during war than in peacetime
Anti-rights movements are gaining ground, while climate and debt crises deepen inequality. Women’s rights organisations - often first responders in crisis – are being forced to scale back as funding disappears.
A recent UN Women survey of women-led and women’s rights organisations found that:
-
90 %
of organisations have been hit by funding cuts
-
51 %
of organisations have been forced to suspend programmes
-
47 %
of organisations expect to shut down within six months if current funding levels persist
Let’s take action!
This is the moment to act. Failure to do so risks taking our hard-fought wins back by decades.
We are calling on the UK Government to Protect Progress by:
- Protecting funding for gender equality and women’s rights
- Preventing backsliding on hard-won rights and language
- Pushing for systemic change to achieve true gender justice
Will you join us? Email the Foreign Secretary today and ask her to take action to protect progress for women and girls.