Global Scans · Gender Equality · Weekly Summary

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower women and girls.

• [New] Ensuring equality of gender remains a pressing issue worldwide, with women experiencing various forms of violence, discrimination, and limited access to opportunities. Scribd
• [New] If approved, new Medical Benefits Scheme items would mean Medicare rebates for gender-affirming surgeries, though some out-of-pocket costs will likely remain. The Conversation
• [New] The UCLA hospital and medical school will be expected to stop providing gender-affirming care. CNN
• [New] Closing gender gaps in entrepreneurship could result in potential global economic gains of $5 to 6 trillion and increase employment opportunities for women, since women-owned firms tend to hire significantly more women employees than men-owned firms. Brookings
• [New] In fact, estimates suggest that closing the gender gap globally could add an astounding US$ 7 trillion to the global economy whilst eliminating violence against women would stop global GDP losses of up to 4% per year. Newday Zimbabwe
• India's largest 1,000 listed companies will soon be mandated to file a Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report with information covering a broad range of ESG factors including welfare benefits and median wages, gender diversity, and resource usage. MIT OpenCourseWare
• Starting in 2026, gender-affirming care will no longer be covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs, affecting thousands of transgender federal workers and their families. Los Angeles Blade: LGBTQ News, Rights, Politics, Entert
• The gender alert raised the issue that, as women and girls in Afghanistan more broadly, but also the returnees in particular, face increased risks of poverty, early marriage, violence, exploitation and unprecedented restrictions on their rights, movements and freedoms. Forbes
• When comparing Parties with adjusted p-values of less than 0-01 for trend, only one Party, Bangladesh, was estimated to take over 50 years to reach gender parity, whereas others are expected to take several years. PubMed Central (PMC)
• Artificial intelligence tools used by more than half of England's councils are downplaying women's physical and mental health issues and risk creating gender bias in care decisions. The Guardian
• The US Department of Education would start requiring colleges to annually submit disaggregated admissions data (meaning that colleges will have to report the race, gender, standardized test scores, GPA, and other characteristics of each admitted student). American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• Sampling will seek to ensure representation from consumers with diverse cultural, ethnic, socioeconomic backgrounds, age groups, gender and sexuality, and ability, from a range of geographic regions and Australian states. BioMed Central
• By 2030, the proportion of ageing among PLWH are set to increase across geographic regions and gender. Pharmacy Times
• If U.S. cops want information on abortion access, gender-affirming care, or political protests happening in Canada-they're going to get it. Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Moscow's decision will further exacerbate widespread human rights violations and gender apartheid in Afghanistan. Hasht-e Subh
• A thriving, gender-balanced insurance industry fuels growth, mitigates global risks, and underpins every sector that depends on protection, from climate and cyber resilience to infrastructure and health. Insurance Business
• In the transformative movement that has enabled the advancement of rights and gender parity in the federal government, Congress, and social policy in favor of women, there will be no turning back. Mexico Solidarity Media

Last updated: 07 September 2025