Only Five Years Left:
Feminists Raising the Red Alarm and Demanding Justice and Reparations Now
New York, USA
21 July 2025
As governments meet in New York for the High Level Political Forum 2025, feminists from the Global South are raising the red alarm: the 2030 Agenda is failing our communities. With only five years left, the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) and its members are mobilising to demand bold, structural change. The call is clear — Development Justice Now.
“While governments gather to discuss “science and evidence-based solutions,” the reality in our communities is alarming. Only 17% of global SDG targets are on track, and many are stalled or regressing. SDG 5 remains one of the least-resourced and under-reported goals. Across the region, we see rising gender-based violence, deepening debt crises and increasing austerity measures, widening inequality, and the continued exclusion of women and gender-diverse groups from decisions that shape our futures” said Arenzungla Jamir, Sisterhood Network from India and APWLD member.
“Unpaid care work is growing, especially for women in rural and marginalised communities. Access to land and resources remains unequal. Public healthcare systems are being undermined by privatisation and militarised spending. The gender pay gap is widening, informal work is expanding, and universal social protection remains out of reach for many. Despite being a longstanding demand of the working people, the issue of living wages remains largely unimplemented or missing in many countries, leaving millions of women and LGBTQI+ workers trapped in poverty wages. Feminist and grassroots organisations continue to face shrinking civic space and threats to our participation in multilateral processes” explained by Rochelle Porras, EILER from the Philippines and APWLD member.
“Feminists from the global south are deeply disappointed with the current state of multilateralism. In the outcome of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) or the Compromiso De Sevilla, we see how women’s human rights and gender equality is undermined. In HLPF, we feel it’s déjà vu as we continue to see the continuing erosion of international cooperation, shrinking of civic space and rise of anti-gender and anti-rights governments” said Cielito Perez, Center for Women’s Resources in the Philippines and APRCEM Women Focal Point.
“We cannot sit around and mingle with the member states as if nothing is wrong. In FfD, HLPF and parallel multilateral processes, we will continue to engage in solidarity actions, political conversations in side-events and learning sessions, and continue to engage our member states in the reality of many global south countries. We are here to elevate the voices and struggles of women on the ground and push for systems change that centres care, justice and reparations – not profit and militarism” she concluded.
“In the face of these crises, we are organising, resisting, and holding the line. APWLD members and partners are present at HLPF to reclaim our space, amplify feminist and people-centred solutions and the rich experiences of resistances of our communities, and demand urgent action on the achievement of the 2030 Agenda” explained by Asel Dunganaeva, JIPAR from Kyrgyzstan and APWLD member.
The message is loud and uncompromising: Only Five Years Left – We Demand Development Justice Now!
APWLD is participating in the two-week HLPF bringing the global south feminist demands from the Asia Pacific region.
Another World is Possible, A Feminist World is Possible!
For media interviews, please contact:
Kalpana Rai, Programme Associate
kalpana@apwld.org or through WhatsApp +977 984-1080466
