$420 billion funding gap threatens gender equality in Global South, UN warns
The United Nations has issued an urgent warning that a staggering $420 billion in funding is needed to close the gender gap in the Global South, as time runs out to meet the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Speaking at a press briefing, Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, described the funding shortfall as an unprecedented crisis that threatens decades of progress on gender equality. “This initiative embodies the growing global momentum for gender-responsive financing and our shared commitment to turn the Compromiso de Sevilla into concrete action,” she said. “We face unprecedented financing crises for gender equality. As in the UN, we are seeing from our data over $420 billion is required to close the gender gap in the global South on development,” she added.
Despite repeated commitments, Gumbonzvanda stressed that women and girls remain disproportionately affected by poverty, unpaid care work, gender-based violence, and exclusion from decision-making. “These disparities are not accidents, they reflect fiscal and financial systems that systematically ignore or reinforce patterns of discrimination, especially for women in marginalized communities, including women with disabilities,” she said.
Gumbonzvanda emphasised that investing in gender equality is not just a moral imperative but an economic one. “The economic case of action is overwhelming. Closing gender gaps in employment could add trillions of dollars to global GDP,” she noted.
Yet current investments fall far short. “We continue to underinvest in half of the world’s population, a devastating waste of human potential and economic opportunity,” she warned. “The urgency has never been greater. Intersecting crises, debt burdens, climate impacts and economic instability are deepening gender inequalities at alarming rates.”
With just five years left to achieve the SDGs, UN Women is calling on governments, development banks, and the private sector to step up their commitments. “The private sector must scale up gender lens investing, supporting women-led enterprises and inclusive supply chains,” Gumbonzvanda urged. “Without transformative financing for gender equality, we will fail not only SDG5 but the entire 2030 Agenda.”
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
