Ms Bahous was speaking at the opening of the ministerial meeting of the 2022 session of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development convened under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), held at the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York.

She said “the thematic review of SDG5 was clear. We have to do things differently. We have to scale up investment in gender equality. We must promote and support women’s health, education, and leadership. We must ensure that women are able to access financing and resources”.

Ms Bahous in a speech made available to the Ghana News Agency in Tema, said time was running out, “we have only eight years left until 2030. And we have heard that we are very much off track. A devasting pandemic has affected every region of the world—every country, every woman, every girl—and has deepened inequalities.

“And even as we work to recover from it, we continue to leave people, women and girls, and countries behind. This is also evident in our solution to end the pandemic, namely access to services and vaccines”.

The UN Women Executive Director said the world faced wars, crises, humanitarian emergencies, food, energy, and finance insecurities, inflation, and unsustainable debt.

“We see the severe impacts of climate change, with biodiversity loss and rising pollution driving flooding and drought, and more crises. Peace, security, prosperity, and a life free from violence are far from the reality of most people, and in particular for women and girls.

“These crises compound the pre-existing gender poverty gap. No matter where in the world, it is women and girls who bear the blunt of job losses and plummeting economic security,” she said.

She said it was women and girls who navigated the strain of diminished public services. It was women and girls who faced increased domestic violence as a result of COVID-19.

“There is no corner in the world where violence against women and girls does not exist. 245 million women and girls have been subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner.

“Across the world, gender-based violence hotlines saw an increase in calls during the COVID-19 pandemic, as women and girls were locked down with their abusers, and services became inaccessible,” she said.

Ms Bahous said the distance to achieving SDG 5 is far, and time is short, therefore there was the need for bold, evidence-based actions and increased financing for a whole-of-society effort to address the needs and rights of women and girls.

“We need renewed multilateralism and a reinvigorated commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals,” UN Women Executive Director stated.