Only five years remain to fulfil the promises of the 2030 Agenda—but instead of accelerating progress, we are witnessing an alarming rollback. Governments, corporations, and anti-rights actors are not just falling short—they are actively dismantling commitments to sustainability, equality, and human rights.

At this year’s High-Level Political Forum, the Women’s Major Group (WMG) is holding the line. Our newly released Position Paper is not a call for tweaks to a broken system—it’s a feminist outcry for structural change, and a bold vision for justice, care, and collective liberation.

We are Holding the Line

WMG and our 1,500+ member organisations across the globe are holding the line against:

Escalating militarisation and ecological destruction that divert public resources from life-sustaining services.
Anti-gender backlash and authoritarianism that threaten bodily autonomy and criminalise feminist movements.
Corporate capture and economic exploitation, particularly of the Global South, through debt, austerity, and privatisation.
Shrinking civic space and the defunding of women’s rights organisations at a time when their leadership is most needed.
Attempts to water down international commitments to SRHR and CSE in the Ministerial Declaration — we unequivocally affirm that sexual and reproductive health and rights, and comprehensive sexuality education, are non-negotiable.

Our Demands: Feminist Realities for a Just World

With five years left to deliver on the SDGs, our demands are urgent and uncompromising. Our paper not only reviews the three SDGs under thematic review—SDG 3 (health), SDG 5 (gender equality), and SDG 8 (decent work)—but reaffirms that all 17 Goals are interconnected, and none can be achieved without systemic transformation.

Our position paper lays out intersectional, rights-based solutions rooted in decades of feminist organising. We spotlight three SDGs under review—SDG 3 (health), SDG 5 (gender equality), and SDG 8 (decent work)—but reaffirm that all 17 Goals are interdependent and essential.

1. SRHR and CSE: We will not go backwards

Ensure universal access to safe, legal abortion, contraception, maternal health, and SRHR services.
Guarantee inclusive, pleasure-centred, rights-based comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) for all, across the life course.
Protect and fund SRHR defenders, including youth and LGBTQIA+ advocates.
Push back against anti-science, anti-rights rhetoric targeting bodily autonomy and gender identity.

2. Gender Justice (SDG 5)

End all forms of gender-based violence, online and offline.
Fund grassroots feminist movements with direct, flexible, long-term funding.
Institutionalise accountability mechanisms that allow civil society to monitor and shape SDG implementation.

3. Health Justice (SDG 3)

Publicly fund universal, quality, stigma-free health care, including mental health services and SRHR.
Reject austerity and privatization of health systems.
Ensure reproductive justice, including in conflict zones like Gaza, Sudan, and Congo.

4. Economic Justice (SDG 8)

Revalue and redistribute unpaid care work.
Close gender wage gaps and uphold labour protections, especially for informal, migrant, and domestic workers.
Shift from extractivist, GDP-obsessed models to feminist economies grounded in sustainability, justice, and reciprocity.