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SDG 5 · Gender Equality

Women are half the world, yet hold barely a quarter of the seats where laws are made.

Eco Heroes turns that fact into a story a 9-year-old can hold onto: Isabel's Bright Ideas, book 5 of 17 in the SDG Library.

Unlock all 17 books → Read SDG 1 free

The target, in plain language

What the UN actually promised

Target 5.5

Ensure women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.

“All levels” means everywhere decisions get made: parliaments, company boards, town halls, and school councils too.

Target 5.1 is the foundation: end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.

Why it matters

The number behind the story

27.4%
of seats in national parliaments are held by women As of 1 January 2026. Half the population, a little over a quarter of the votes on the laws everyone lives by.

Source: The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026, UN DESA. Figures as published in July 2026.

The story

Isabel's Bright Ideas

Isabel's Bright Ideas, SDG 5 book cover

Isabel's Bright Ideas

Written by Ricardo Alcántara (Premio Lazarillo) · Illustrated by Noemí Villamuza (Premio Junceda)

Book 5 of 17 in the Eco Heroes SDG Library, one illustrated story for each UN Sustainable Development Goal. Included with any Eco Heroes plan (families from €79 a year + VAT: €95.59 with 21% Spanish VAT; the VAT and the total that apply to you are shown before you pay); SDG 1 is free to try. Published in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.

Reading guide: questions, vocabulary and activities →

Bring it into the room

Talk about it, try it

Discuss

One question to ask after reading

“Are there jobs, games or school subjects people say are ‘for boys’ or ‘for girls’? Where do you think those ideas come from?”

Try it: 15 minutes

Count the voices

Pick a place where decisions are made, like a school council, a sports club or a newspaper front page, and count how many women and men are in it. Draw it as a simple bar chart and talk about what you see.

Watch

The short mission video

April and Karim walk through this goal in a short video, with subtitles in your language.

Transcript

Everything said in the video, in order, with the words and figures shown on screen.

Version for ages 9–12

  1. April: Equal rights. Equal futures. An Eco Heroes mission.
  2. On screen: An Eco Heroes mission · Goal 5 · ages 9–12
  3. On screen: See something real
  4. April: Stories quietly teach us who 'should' do what. Why do some jobs seem to be 'for boys' or 'for girls'?
  5. On screen: A real question is where every mission starts.
  6. On screen: Investigate the system
  7. Karim: Gender Equality is a system, not a headline. 2.5× more unpaid care and housework is done by women than men.
  8. On screen: 2.5× more unpaid care and housework is done by women than men. (Source: UN Women, 2023)
  9. Karim: of women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
  10. On screen: 1 / 3 of women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. (Source: WHO, 2021)
  11. On screen: 131 years — the projected wait for full gender parity at current rates. (Source: World Economic Forum, 2023)
  12. On screen: Step 4 · Meet someone who understands it
  13. Karim: Ask the people who know: a women's association, a female engineer or coach, your head teacher.
  14. April: Your mission — Spot the Stereotype. Become an equality detective in your everyday world. Do: Watch a cartoon or read a book.
  15. On screen: Do: Watch a cartoon or read a book. Note any gender stereotypes.
  16. On screen: Prove: Explain why each one is unfair.
  17. On screen: Reflect: Where else do you see the same pattern?
  18. April: Bring it to school.
  19. On screen: Bring it to school: Show your class what you found. One finding from each of you becomes a map of your town.
  20. April: Show your class what you found. Discuss it at home.
  21. On screen: Discuss it at home: Tell your family what you did and ask them one question about it. Information fades — questions travel.
  22. April: Tell your family what you did and ask them one question about it. Take action locally.
  23. On screen: Take action locally: Pick the one action from your mission you can do this week — and tell one person why.
  24. Karim: A true story — The Hidden Figures. Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing.
  25. On screen: Small hands. Real problem. Real change.
  26. Karim: Katherine Johnson. 17 goals, 13 languages, one hero: your child. eco-heroes.org
  27. On screen: eco-heroes.org/game

Version for ages 13–17

  1. April: Equal on paper.
  2. On screen: An Eco Heroes mission · Goal 5 · ages 13–17
  3. On screen: Notice something real
  4. April: Not yet in real life. At today's pace, closing the global gender gap will take 120 years. The law says we are equal — so why aren't the results?
  5. On screen: Hard questions are where real missions start.
  6. On screen: Map the system
  7. Karim: Equality is a system: pay, care work, safety, power and expectations. Nearly 1 in 3 women has experienced violence from a partner, or sexual violence, in
  8. On screen: 1 in 3 women has faced partner or sexual violence. (Source: WHO, 2025)
  9. On screen: 2.5× more unpaid care and housework is done by women. (Source: UN Women, 2025)
  10. On screen: 120 years to close the gender gap at today's pace. (Source: WEF, 2026)
  11. On screen: Step 4 · Talk to someone who knows
  12. Karim: her lifetime. Interview someone who knows: a union rep, a woman in a male-dominated job, an equality officer.
  13. April: Your mission — Who Gets Heard? Measure who speaks, leads and is pictured around you.
  14. On screen: Do: For one week, count who speaks in class, leads teams and appears in your textbooks.
  15. On screen: Prove: Chart the split by gender.
  16. On screen: Reflect: What would make it fairer — and who could change it?
  17. April: Take it to school.
  18. On screen: Take it home: Ask your family who does which jobs at home — and why.
  19. On screen: Act where you live: Suggest a fairer rota, club or speaker line-up where you live.
  20. On screen: Real data. Real questions. Real change.
  21. April: Share your chart with your class and propose one change. Then take it home, and act where you live.
  22. Karim: A true story. Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Katherine Johnson. 17 goals, 13 languages, your move. eco-heroes.org
A real example

Iceland's equal pay revolution

In Iceland, gender pay transparency laws require companies to prove equal pay or face fines. Since 2018, the gender pay gap has shrunk faster than in any other country. Equal pay audits work.

Quick check

Test yourself

What is SDG 5 about?Show the answer
  1. Sports equality
  2. Gender equality and women's empowerment
  3. Food equality
  4. Height equality

Answer: Gender equality and women's empowerment — SDG 5 focuses on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.

A gender stereotype is a fair and accurate description of how men and women behave.Show the answer

Answer: False — Stereotypes are oversimplified, fixed ideas about groups that limit people's potential — they are not accurate.

What is the gender pay gap?Show the answer
  1. Women work fewer hours
  2. Women earn less for equivalent work on average
  3. Men prefer higher salaries
  4. Companies pay by height

Answer: Women earn less for equivalent work on average — The gender pay gap is the average difference in earnings between men and women — it exists in every country.

Go further

Lesson plan for this goal → The book in the library → An activity for this goal → Play the SDG trivia →

Seventeen goals, seventeen stories

Every SDG gets its own illustrated book, its own facts and its own activities. SDG 1 is free to try: its game chapter, trivia and video. The books and the other goals unlock with a family, school or hotel plan.

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