No country has yet achieved gender equality

It is alarming and shameful at the same time: No country in the world has succeeded in achieving gender equality thus far – and we already find ourselves in the third decade of the 21st century. While a relatively great deal has been achieved in combatting gender-specific inequalities in the European Union thanks to solid gender equality guidelines and corresponding court rulings, women in other parts of the world, such as in the southern hemisphere, are still very far from being treated equally. Yet both here and there, despite being at different levels, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about further setbacks and once again increased the challenges that women and girls around the world are faced with. Overlapping crises – the pandemic, economic crisis, childcare crisis, and various wars around the globe – are making it quite difficult for people to turn the desire for a self-determined life as equals into reality.

It is time to eliminate system-related obstacles and gender-specific discrimination, which has existed for so long, and to allow full participation by women and girls in education, the economy, and society. In the current issue, we take up this topic to create awareness. Only by working together can we make real progress by 2030 – the declared deadline for achieving the SDGs – in creating a world in which all genders, with all their differences and individual personalities, have equal rights. In which they are able to structure their lives as they wish and thus realise their full potential. A world in which they enjoy the same opportunities, where they can prosper and lead self-determined lives as equals.