Gender inequality has been a defining feature of human society for millennia.
It seeps down into a culture from the institutional level and is reinforced on the interpersonal level.
Even though great advances have been made through suffrage and civil rights movements and the daily struggle of women advocates, much still has to be done.
Around the world, girls and women are still denied equal education, career and life opportunities, adequate resources and fair treatment inside and outside the home.
Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, The Clinton Foundation and MTV are amplifying the message that gender equality can wait no longer. Equal rights have to be ratified and embodied around the world.
The campaign is called #NotThere, and is part of No Ceilings and Look Different. It is a call to action to people everywhere to continue working on this essential cause.
Here are some stats from the campaign and its supporters showing why we're #NotThere when it comes to equality.
1 in 3 women worldwide experience sexual or physical violence, often by a husband or partner. http://t.co/jQQJA8nwDc#NotThere
— Joyful Heart (@TheJHF) September 8, 2015
Young women make up 59% of the 115 million illiterate youth #NotThere cc @MalalaFundhttp://t.co/MY1RMVwmyepic.twitter.com/xjKq3t1gKq
— UNESCO Statistics (@UNESCOstat) September 9, 2015
No country lets boys marry before girls, but 1 of every 3 countries lets girls marry younger than boys #NotTherepic.twitter.com/a6nTJtWnyw
— WORLD (@WPolicyCenter) September 9, 2015
While there have been significant advances in girls’ access to education, we’re still #notthere: #WomensEqualityDaypic.twitter.com/kXq25UrlNE
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) August 26, 2015
The Global Goals, an international roadmap for the next 15 years of development, are a launchpad for gender equality.
Global Goal 5 is explicitly about achieving gender equality in all facets of life. If world leaders firmly commit to the Goals, then #NotThere will no longer be the default refrain for people struggling to gain equality.
Instead, the world will be saying #We'veArrived.
If you want to get to a world free of injustice and inequality, then tell world leaders to execute The Global Goals in TAKE ACTION NOW.