Equality in law for women and girls by 2030: A multistakeholder strategy for accelerated action: Progress review and updated targets

More than 2.5 billion women and girls worldwide continue to live under the shadow of discriminatory legal systems that erode their dignity, restrict opportunities, and violate fundamental human rights. Discriminatory laws, whether constitutional, civil, criminal, labour, or administrative, remain one of the most entrenched barriers to gender equality, undermining sustainable development and the realization of human potential.

In response to this challenge, UN Women and a diverse, global coalition of 20 partner organizations launched “Equality in law for women and girls by 2030: A multistakeholder strategy for accelerated action” in 2019. The strategy set a bold vision: to fast-track the repeal of discriminatory laws across six thematic areas in 100 countries, with the aim of impacting the lives of more than 50 million women and girls.

A review of strategy implementation at the midpoint confirmed both substantial progress and persistent challenges. To sustain and accelerate progress, the strategy’s targets have been updated to reflect current realities while preserving shared ambition. While the original strategy continues to anchor this work, including through levels of engagement and implementation accelerators, the new document outlines the progress achieved to date, the recalibrated targets for each priority area, and the next steps required to ensure that equality in law for women and girls can be realized by 2030.