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 an 8-year-old can hold onto: Isabel's Bright Ideas, book 5 of 17 in the SDG Library.

Unlock all 17 books, first month free → 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

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. Unlocked with any Eco Heroes plan (families from €79 a year), and every plan starts with a free month. Published in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Catalan.

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.

Seventeen goals, seventeen stories

Every SDG gets its own illustrated book, its own facts and its own activities. SDG 1 is always free. The rest unlock with a family, school or hotel plan.

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