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By Goli Innocent
The United Nations has said that no country in the world has yet achieved full gender equality, warning that progress towards equal rights for women and girls remains painfully slow.
The global body raised the concern on Sunday as the world marked the 2026 International Women’s Day, noting that decades of advocacy and reforms have yet to deliver equal rights between men and women.
In a message posted on its X handle, the organisation stressed that gender equality remains a distant goal in every country.
“It’s 2026, and as of yet, no country has achieved gender equality,” the UN said.
“At the current rate of progress, it could take hundreds of years for women and girls to have the same rights and protections as men.”
The warning is contained in a new report titled “Ensuring and Strengthening Access to Justice for All Women and Girls,” released ahead of the global observance.
According to the report, women across the world currently enjoy only 64 per cent of the legal rights granted to men.
The organisation said such disparities expose women and girls to discrimination, violence and systemic disadvantages throughout their lives.
“The reality is stark. In more than half of the world’s countries, rape laws are not based on consent,” the report stated.
“Nearly three out of four nations still legally allow girls to be forced into marriage, cutting short childhoods, education and future.
“44 per cent of countries do not have laws that guarantee equal pay for work of equal value.
“About 54 per cent of countries lack a consent-based definition of rape.”
In many countries, women continue to face legal obstacles when trying to own property, file for divorce, pass citizenship to their children or even work and travel freely without the consent of their husbands.
Executive Director of UN Women, Sima Bahous, warned that denying women access to justice weakens institutions and undermines the rule of law.
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“Public trust erodes, institutions lose legitimacy, and the rule of law itself is weakened. A justice system that fails half the population cannot claim to uphold justice at all,” Bahous said.
Despite the gaps, the report acknowledged that some progress has been made in strengthening protections for women.
“Today, 87 per cent of countries have laws against domestic violence and more than 40 nations have strengthened constitutional protections for women and girls in the past decade,” the report noted.
However, the UN cautioned that legal reforms alone are not enough to guarantee justice.
“Survivors often face stigma, fear, financial barriers and a lack of trust in institutions meant to protect them.
“As a result, justice remains out of reach for far too many,” the report said.
The report also warned of emerging challenges, including digital abuse and the erosion of hard-won rights in some parts of the world.
“For the 676 million women and girls living within 50 kilometres of active conflict zones, justice systems are largely absent, and perpetrators act with impunity.
“Rape continues to be used as a weapon of war, with reported cases of sexual violence rising by 87 per cent in just two years.”
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, stressed that protecting women’s rights is essential for building a fairer world.
“Women’s rights are human rights and investing in women and girls is one of the surest ways to make the world a better place,” Guterres said.
He added that International Women’s Day should serve as a call for urgent global action.
“When women are not equal under the law, equality does not truly exist.
“Ensuring justice for all women and girls is essential for building fairer, stronger societies everywhere. Now is the time to act.”
