15 July 2025, High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, New York
Considering the world has just five years left to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global leaders gathered at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) were urged to accelerate progress on SDG 5: achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Our Human Rights Officer, Best Chitsanupong was present at the HLPF and delivered a statement in consultation with over 340 organizations worldwide within the LGBTI stakeholder group, part of the Major Groups and Stakeholders Coordination Mechanism.
Why is the world failing on Gender Equality?
Despite protecting reproductive rights and female labour force participation increment, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted and worsened existing gender gaps, with women bearing the weight of job losses, increased gender-based violence, and reduced access to essential health services. But that’s not all. LBTI women and girls are being left behind, especially those in low-income or conflict-affected regions.
Here are some of the reasons why the world is failing on Gender Equality:
- LBTI women and girls continue to face violence and exclusion from patriarchal society
- 64 countries still criminalize consensual same-sex sexual acts, and more than 10 criminalize diverse gender expressions and identities
- Rising anti-gender movements are distorting human rights and gender concepts to gain political power, causing even more gender-based violence.
- The lack of legal gender recognition beyond the binary continues to barrier a dignifying life for many trans, gender diverse and intersex people
- The replacement of “gender-based violence” with “sex-based violence” is excluding trans, gender diverse and intersex people from gender equality frameworks.
It is not surprising that, at the current rate,
it will take 286 years to close legal protection gaps and remove discriminatory laws worldwide!
Given these challenges, SDG 5 Gender Equality cannot be achieved when LGBTI people are left behind. For that, organizations from all over the world are urging member states and stakeholder to:
- Meaningfully engage LBTI CSOs in policy development to prevent and address gender-based violence
- Address funding disparities by sustaining resources for LBTI movements as part of feminist and gender equality funding.
- Ensure decriminalization, full legal recognition, and protection of trans and gender diverse people.
As Best Chitsanupong said it clearly:
Human rights are indivisible and universal. If LGBTI+ rights are under attack, human rights are under attack. The SDGs will fail if you fail us.
Watch the full speech:
