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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYTwenty years after the landmark Fourth WorldConference on Women in Beijing, and at a timewhen the global community is defining theSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for thepost-2015 era, the global consensus on the need toachieve gender equality seems stronger than everbefore. 1 Empowering women and girls is among thegoals aspired to by all, from grassroots organizations,trade unions and corporations, to Member Statesand intergovernmental bodies. But how far has thisconsensus been translated into tangible progress onthe ground, and what more is needed to bridge thegaps between rhetoric and reality?Drawing on promising experiences from around theworld, this Report proposes a comprehensive agendafor key policy actors— including gender equalityadvocates, national governments and internationalagencies—to make human rights a lived reality for allwomen and girls.Governments in every region have made legallybinding commitments to respect, protect and fulfilwomen’s human rights, recognizing their intrinsicvalue as well as the synergies between women’srights and wider prosperity. Women’s access todecent employment is not only likely to improve theiragency and the distributional dynamics within thehousehold but can also lift whole households outof poverty. Improvements in women’s health andeducation are key contributors to women’s own wellbeingand life chances and are also linked to betteroutcomes for their children. In the long term, societiesand economies can only thrive if they make full use ofwomen’s skills and capacities.There have been significant achievements sinceBeijing: more girls are enrolling in school; and morewomen are working, getting elected and assumingleadership positions. Where once it was regarded asa private matter, preventing and redressing violenceagainst women and girls is at last on the public policyagenda. Women have gained greater legal rightsto access employment, own and inherit propertyand get married and divorced on the same termsas men. These areas of progress show that genderinequalities can be reduced through public action.However, while hugely important, these changeshave not yet resulted in equal outcomes for womenand men. Globally three quarters of working agemen (15 years old and over) are in the labour forcecompared to half of working age women. Amongthose who are employed, women constitute nearlytwo thirds of ‘contributing family workers’, whowork in family businesses without any direct pay. 2Everywhere, women continue to be denied equalpay for work of equal value and are less likely thanmen to receive a pension, which translates intolarge income inequalities throughout their lives.Globally, on average, women’s earnings are 24per cent less than men’s, and even in countriessuch as Germany—where policies are increasinglysupportive of female employment—women on