The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026 and its Goal 5 update measure women’s representation in politics and management, reported decision-making power over reproductive health, violence, legal reform, land rights and gender-responsive public financing. The findings show gains in several areas, but persistent barriers continue to limit women’s safety, autonomy, economic mobility and influence over public decisions.

Women’s political representation is barely moving

As of January 1, 2026, women held 27.4% of seats in lower or single chambers of national parliaments worldwide. That was an increase of 0.2 percentage points from 2025 and 5.1 points from 2015.

Only seven countries had at least 50% women in their national parliaments. Three countries had no women representatives, and women made up less than 10% of parliamentarians in 18 countries.

The figure is corroborated by the 2026 women-in-politics data from UN Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which also describes women as persistently underrepresented in national political decision-making. The parliamentary measure should not be confused with local-government representation, which the U.N. reports separately at 35.6% in 2025.

Leadership gaps extend into the workplace

Women held 30.5% of managerial positions worldwide in 2025, even though they accounted for about 40% of employment. The gap indicates that participation in paid work is not translating into equal access to workplace authority, promotion or economic decision-making.

Women’s share of management positions rose 3.6 percentage points from 2015 to 2025. The U.N. says that, at that pace, equal representation in management would remain more than 50 years away.

Bodily autonomy and safety remain major gaps

In data covering 78 countries, 56.3% of women ages 15 to 49 who were married or in a union reported full decision-making power across three areas: contraception, sexual relations and reproductive health care.

This is not an estimate for all women worldwide. It reflects the available 78-country dataset and the specific population measured. The regional disparity was wide: 87.2% of women in Europe and Northern America reported decision-making ability across all three areas, compared with 36.8% in sub-Saharan Africa. The U.N. also reports lower levels of autonomy among some younger, rural, less-educated and poorer populations.

Violence remains a persistent global crisis. Based on 2023 estimates, nearly one in three women—about 840 million—has experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by a non-partner during her lifetime. The estimate is based on 2023 data and is not a new 2026 count.

Legal reforms have advanced, but rights remain incomplete

The report records 99 legal reforms strengthening gender equality between 2019 and 2025. The reforms addressed areas including domestic violence, rape, child marriage and restrictions on women’s employment.

The reforms have not eliminated discriminatory laws. Among 131 countries with data, only 44% prohibited both direct and indirect discrimination. Only 38% had consent-based rape laws that explicitly criminalized marital rape, and just 23% set the minimum marriage age at 18 without exceptions.

Land rights also remain insecure. In 68 of 78 countries with data, fewer than half of women in agricultural households reported owning or holding secure rights to agricultural land. The U.N. says stronger legal protections and more consistent implementation are both needed to turn formal rights into secure ownership and economic opportunity.

Budgets show whether commitments are implemented

In 2025, 123 countries used elements of gender-responsive budgeting, up from 69 in 2018. But only one in four of those countries had comprehensive systems to track and publicly disclose gender-equality allocations.

The measure concerns budgeting and transparency systems; it does not mean that spending guarantees equal outcomes. Without reliable tracking and public disclosure, governments and residents have less ability to determine whether gender-equality commitments are being funded and implemented.

With less than four years remaining before the 2030 deadline, the U.N. assessment puts the next test on governments: accelerate legal reform, improve enforcement, expand health and safety services, strengthen women’s access to leadership and make public financing easier to examine. The report’s central message is that progress remains possible, but existing gains are not moving quickly enough.

Sources

• U.N. Statistics Division: SDG Goal 5, 2026 update
• UN Women and Inter-Parliamentary Union: Women in politics: 2026

The materials cover developments from April through June 2026. The civilian casualty figures use a longer period: UNAMA said fighting between Afghanistan and Pakistan killed 499 civilians and wounded 1,216 in Afghanistan from October 2025 through the end of June 2026.

Women face overlapping restrictions

UNAMA’s reporting describes a system in which women’s access to education, employment, movement and public services remains tightly controlled. The restrictions include limits on education beyond the primary level, restrictions on work, strict clothing requirements and rules requiring women to be accompanied by a male relative in some circumstances.

The report also said officials from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice visited health clinics and shops in parts of Afghanistan, advising them to refuse entry to women who were not accompanied by a male relative.

These findings do not represent a single new policy adopted during the April–June reporting period. Instead, they provide a current record of how longer-running Taliban rules are being enforced and how that enforcement affects daily access to education, health care, work and public life.

Herat crackdown tied dress-code enforcement to protest rights

In the western city of Herat, UNAMA documented the arrest of at least 30 women in June over alleged dress-code violations. During a rare protest against the detentions, authorities opened fire, killing at least one person and injuring others, according to reporting by The Associated Press.

The episode illustrates how rules governing women’s clothing can become a broader civil-liberties issue. Enforcement of full-hijab requirements has been described as variable and potentially arbitrary, while protests against the rules can expose participants to detention or violence.

Cross-border fighting added to the civilian toll

UNAMA said fighting between Afghanistan and Pakistan caused 499 civilian deaths and 1,216 injuries inside Afghanistan over the longer October-to-June period. The mission’s figures do not provide an overall casualty count for Pakistan because UNAMA’s monitoring mandate covers incidents in Afghanistan.

One incident highlighted in the reporting occurred in Paktia province on June 28. UNAMA and AP reported that a second airstrike hit while residents were attempting to rescue people from the first strike, raising concerns about civilian protection and the risks faced by rescuers.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said its strikes targeted militant sites and denied that civilians were deliberately targeted. That position does not resolve the questions raised by the civilian casualty findings or by international humanitarian-law concerns about attacks affecting rescuers and other protected people.

Marriage rules raise a separate rights concern

UNAMA also found that new rules governing separation in marriage implicitly sanction child marriage by allowing marriage contracts involving minors. The finding is narrower than saying the rules formally legalize child marriage, but it signals concern that the framework could facilitate marriages involving children.

The July 28 monitoring package gives international governments, aid organizations and rights investigators updated evidence about conditions under Taliban rule. The issues to watch include enforcement of restrictions on women, treatment of protesters, civilian protection during cross-border violence and whether international accountability efforts respond to the documented findings.

Sources

• UNAMA Human Rights Monitoring and Reporting
• Associated Press report on Afghanistan and the UNAMA findings
• U.N. Secretary-General report on Afghanistan