Goal
Goal 5 aims to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”
For Ghana, this involves confronting deep-seated cultural and social norms to eliminate discrimination and violence against women and girls. Key priorities include closing gender gaps in political representation and economic participation, ending harmful practices like child marriage, and guaranteeing equal access to education, healthcare, and economic assets.
Community Success
This is driven by the powerful advocacy of local women’s rights groups and “Queen Mothers” (traditional female leaders). These grassroots movements are at the forefront of protecting girls from early marriage, promoting girls’ education, supporting women entrepreneurs with financial literacy, and providing safe spaces and legal aid for survivors of gender-based violence, creating change from the community level upward.
Key Statistics for Goal 5 in Ghana
SDG Indicator | Statistic (latest year) | Source & Implication |
5.1.1 – Legal frameworks for gender equality | Affirmative Action Law (2024) | Parliament of Ghana. Demonstrates a strong legislative commitment to promoting and enforcing gender equality. |
5.2.1 – Intimate partner violence (previous 12 months) | Psychological: 25.5% | GDHS. Shows a reduction from earlier years, reflecting progress in awareness, reporting, and response systems. |
5.2.2 – Sexual violence by non-partner | Ever experienced: 6.2% | GDHS. Indicates a baseline for this specific form of violence, informing targeted prevention programs. |
5.3.1 – Child marriage (women 20–24) | Married before 15: 3.3% | GDHS. Shows a decline, reflecting the impact of laws, community engagement, and girls’ education campaigns. |
5.5.1 – Women in parliamentary & local gov’t seats | National Parliament: 15% | Electoral Commission, Ministry of Local Government. Highlights slow but steady representation, with potential for increase under new legislation. |
5.6.1 – Women making own SRH decisions | 38.2% (2022) | GDHS. Points to progress in reproductive autonomy but indicates room for improvement in education and access. |
5.6.2 – Laws guaranteeing access to SRH care | Multiple laws & policies in place (2025) | 2025 VNR / MoH. Shows a robust legal and policy framework for sexual and reproductive health rights. |
5.c.1 – Systems to track public allocations for gender equality | Institutionalized gender-responsive planning & budgeting (2025) | Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. Reflects advanced integration of gender equality into public financial management. |
| Target | Indicators | |
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5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere |
5.1.1
Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non‑discrimination on the basis of sex |
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5.2 Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation |
5.2.1
Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age
5.2.2
Proportion of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to sexual violence by persons other than an intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by age and place of occurrence |
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5.3 Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation |
5.3.1
Proportion of women aged 20-24 years who were married or in a union before age 15 and before age 18
5.3.2
Proportion of girls and women aged 15-49 years who have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting, by age
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5.4 Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate |
5.4.1
Proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by sex, age and location |
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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 |
5.5.1
Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
5.5.2
Proportion of women in managerial positions |
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5.6 Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences |
5.a Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws |
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5.b Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women |
5.b.1
Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex |
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5.c Adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels |
5.c.1
Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment |
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Education Parity:
Ghana has achieved gender parity in primary school enrollment (Net Enrollment Ratio: Boys 85%, Girls 86% as of 2021/22 – MoE EMIS). This is a foundational achievement for future empowerment.
Summary:
The data reveals that while Ghana has made strides in educational access and reducing certain harmful practices (FGM), major gaps persist in economic empowerment (land ownership, management roles), political power (parliamentary representation), and safety (gender-based violence).