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Correspondence to Dr Agnes Binagwaho; dr. agnes. binagwaho@ gmail. com © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Reuse permitted under CC BYNC. No commercial reuse. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. INTRODUCTION Since the 1970s, countries across the globe and various institutions have declared their commitment to gender equality. The United Nations (UN) held the First World Conference on Women in Mexico City in 1975, bringing together representatives from 133 countries. The conference that cemented the world’s commitment to gender equality was the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 which brought together 17 000 official participants and 30 000 activists to Beijing, China. Participants devised the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action which outlines commitments to 12 areas of concern and serves as a crucial guiding document even today. We have also had various landmark moments such the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, the creation of UN Women in 2010 and the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. Despite the call for gender equality during the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on gender equality in 1995, critical gaps persist, the shortage of funding and the lack of women in leadership being among the main contributors. These factors contribute to the fact that women today are paid 23% less than men, that women account for 66% of the 750 million adults without basic literacy skills, and that they only serve as heads of state or government in 11% of countries. The lack of funding focused on gender equality has multiple causes ranging from inequity in fund allocation to the lack of gender disaggregated data to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of allocated funds in reducing gender gaps.