Opportunities for Women: Challenging Harmful Social Norms and Gender Stereotypes to Unlock Women’s Potential

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, shaped by both public and private sectors and the voices of civil society, was adopted by world leaders two years ago as a blueprint for making our world more equitable, sustainable and livable. Its goals and targets are jointly agreed as solutions to the inequality, conflict and unrest that we see worldwide. A key target in the 2030 Agenda is to end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls, everywhere. This is so important because of the crushing impact of laws and policies that explicitly restrict women’s ability to engage economically and socially, coupled with the less visible but equally powerful cultural and social norms that portray women as unequal to men - and make them so in the process.