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Gender Equality is a human right, it means equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities to all genders regardless of their class, sexual orientation, race, handicap, etc. They have equal access to resources, freedoms, education, and health. This is mainly for women's and girl's empowerment and ensuring their safety and rights.

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According to the Gender equality glossary of terms and concepts by UNICEF

This is important vocab needed to understand gender equality even further.

Gender Based Violence - An umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will and that is based on socially ascribed (gender) differences between females and males. The nature and extent of specific types of GBV vary across cultures, countries and regions. Examples include sexual violence, including sexual exploitation/abuse and forced prostitution, domestic violence, trafficking, forced/early marriage, harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, honour killings and widow inheritance.

Gender Balance - This is a human resource issue calling for equal participation of women and men in all areas of work (international and national staff at all levels, including at senior positions) and in programmes that agencies initiate or support (e.g. food distribution programmes). Achieving a balance in staffing patterns and creating a working environment that is conducive to a diverse workforce improves the overall effectiveness of our policies and programmes, and will enhance agencies’ capacity to better serve the entire population.

Gender Norms/Roles - Accepted attributes and characteristics of male and female gendered identity at a particular point in time for a specific society or community. They are the standards and expectations to which gender identity generally conforms, within a range that defines a particular society, culture and community at that point in time. Gender norms are ideas about how men and women should be and act. Internalized early in life, gender norms can establish a life cycle of gender socialization and stereotyping.

Social and behavioral norms that, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex. These often determine the traditional responsibilities and tasks assigned to men, women, boys and girls. Gender-specific roles are often conditioned by household structure, access to resources, specific impacts of the global economy, occurrence of conflict or disaster, and other locally relevant factors such as ecological conditions

Patriarchy - Social system in which men hold the greatest power, leadership roles, privilege, moral authority and access to resources and land, including in the family. Most modern societies are patriarchies.

Reproductive Rights - Reproductive rights include the rights of all individuals and couples to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children, and to have the information and means to do so. Further, decisions concerning reproduction should be made free from discrimination, coercion and violence. These services are essential for all people, married and unmarried, including adolescents and youth.

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When we marginalize the rights of women, it denies the possibility of poverty decreasing for millions of women, men, and children

From birth, men and women are forced into behaving or acting a certain way or playing certain roles because of tradition, culture, religion, etc. This forces gender norms in society, creating disadvantages for women

In many countries, women are not allowed education limiting their opportunities to earn money when they are older.

Women living in rural places play an important role in agricultural development, but in many places, women are not allowed to own land so they can not receive loans for their farms or get benefits from the land.

Cultural beliefs also restrict women's opportunities such as in Zambia where women are not allowed to paddle their boats.

Because of this, women suffer from poverty and agricultural development cannot reach its full potential, causing poverty and hunger in developing countries.

Both men and women must be involved for change to happen

More policies need to be implemented that increase women's access to resources

We need communities to encourage women as workers and leaders so we can increase women's voices

When development organizations, policies, and communities support women's success, we increase the chance of reducing extreme poverty and boosting success for all genders around the world.

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This image/infographic shows how gender equality would benefit the world. It talks about how gender equality isn't only for women but everyone has to partake in it. This infographic proves to me that gender equality is an important human right and benefits our society.

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This news article talks about how human rights activists in Nigeria are petitioning and planning to stop a mass marriage ceremony where 100 girls and young women and forced to get married.

The petition said "Niger state government should prioritise the education of the girls instead of forcing them into marriage. We demand immediate action to halt the proposed forced marriages and to instead implement measures that will empower these girls to lead dignified and fulfilling lives,”

This ties into Gender Equality because many women worldwide are forced into child marriages and forced marriages because of kidnappings or because they are sold by their families for money. The UN is working towards stopping all child marriages worldwide.

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Human rights activists in Nigeria have launched a petition to stop a plan to push 100 girls and young women into marriage in a mass ceremony, which has caused outrage in the west African country.

The plan, sponsored by Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, the speaker of the national assembly in the largely Muslim north-western state of Niger, were criticised by Nigeria 's women's affairs minister, Uju Kennedy Ohanenye. She said she would seek a court injunction to stop the ceremony next week and establish if any of the girls were minors.

Sarkindaji said the girls and young women were orphans whose parents were killed in attacks by kidnapping gangs that roam northern Nigeria. He said he would pay dowries to the grooms.

A petition launched on Wednesday that has more than 8,000 signatures said the Niger state government should prioritise the education of the girls instead of forcing them into marriage.

"We demand immediate action to halt the proposed forced marriages and to instead implement measures that will empower these girls to lead dignified and fulfilling lives," the activists said.

The women's affairs minister, Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, said she would seek a court injunction to halt the ceremony. Photograph: X

Critics have expressed concern that some girls may be underage or being forced to comply for financial gain.

Sarkindaji and the Imams Forum of Niger said the marriage ceremony would go ahead on 24 May and insisted the girls were not underage.

Child marriages are common in the mostly Muslim north, where poverty levels are higher than the largely Christian south. Although the legal age of marriage is 18 under federal law, Nigerian states can set their own age.

Niger's legal marriage age is also 18, but Sarkindaji's spokesperson said that under sharia law, which is practised in the state, a girl can be married when she reaches puberty.

After meeting on Wednesday, the imams forum said it would take legal action against Kennedy Ohanenye if she did not withdraw her statement suggesting the girls were minors, its secretary, Umar-Faruk Abdullahi, said on local TV.

"We have given the minister seven days to withdraw her statement she used against us, against our speaker, against the Muslim community ... that we want to force them into marriage and the children are underage," said Abdullahi.

Kennedy Ohanenye did not respond to requests for comment.

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Nigerian activists condemn mass 'forced marriages' of 100 girls and young women

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Petition launched to halt mass ceremony that organisers say is for 100 orphans whose parents were killed by gangs

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I think gender equality is a substantial human right and needs to be implemented in all parts of the world as soon as possible.

I feel as though it isn't taken seriously enough, especially in third-world countries or countries that have misogyny deeply rooted in their culture such as how in Zambia, women aren't allowed to paddle their boats.

I think the global community should be doing more to address this issue because it is proven that gender equality will make a healthier, wealthier, more productive, and more peaceful world.

Many women experience gender-based violence in all parts of the world. This is a huge problem because many men perform those acts of violence against women. With the attention of the global community, we can aim to stop all forms for gender-based violence.

Yes, many people already advocate for gender equality but we need more people. We need men and women to both advocate for gender equality because it is so common that a lot of people gloss over it as something they are used to.

The consequences of inaction include

a rise in gender-based violence

increased poverty and hunger

a lesser female population

more child marriages

abolishment of reproductive rights

There are many more consequences but these will have a huge negative impact on the world.

The consequences pf action include

less poverty and hunger

more women in political jobs

more opportunities for women

equal education

and many many more. The consequences of action will better the world and make it a more peaceful and safer place.