Will we be able to achieve SDG-5 gender equality by 2030? by Professor Lesley Regan – 2021 Darwin lecture

Book your place to join the 2021 Darwin lecture, this year delivered by Professor Dame Lesley Regan, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Imperial College London. Professor Regan will consider whether we will be able to achieve SDG-5 gender equality by 2030.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, with the expectation that they should be reached by 2030. These SDGs follow and expand upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which ran from 2000-2015. The SDGs represent a set of targets for countries across the world, designed to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all.

Two of the 17 SDG goals explicitly recognise the pivotal importance of girls and women, alongside their ability to access education and healthcare, if we have any chance of achieving these ambitious aims. SDG-3 calls on governments to ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages’ and outlines specific targets to reduce global maternal mortality and ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare.

SDG-5 sets society the challenge to ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030.’ This goal further emphasises the importance of universal sexual and reproductive health and includes commitments to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, together with the elimination of harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage, trafficking, sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation.

The clock is ticking and we are moving swiftly towards the halfway mark of this ambitious 15-year program of global goals. So let us all focus on the contributions we can make, both collectively and individually to achieve, rather than just promote gender equality and the empowerment of all girls and women. We need to make SDG-5 everyone’s business for the simple reason that “…the health and wealth of a nation is determined by the health of its’ girls and women”. As Ban Ki-moon, Former UN Secretary-General, stated, “Let the 21st century be the century of women. Because when we empower women, we empower communities, nations and the entire human family”

Can’t make it to London? You can live stream this lecture from anywhere. Click here to book your place

If UK government guidelines and restrictions change, the format of this event will be updated to comply, and all delegates will be notified via email.

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