This commitment is reflected in Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG5), the standalone goal on gender equality, and in the gender-specific targets included across the other SDGs, such as SDG8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth (United Nations, 2015a). Persistent challenges include stagnating female labour force participation, gender wage gaps, entrenched discriminatory social norms and stereotypes, and high rates of violence against women and girls. All have detrimental effects on women’s rights and well-being and on national development outcomes. Ferrant and Kolev (2016) showed that reducing gender-based discrimination in social institutions could - depending on the chosen scenario - lead to an annual increase in the global GDP growth rate of between 0.03 and 0.6 percentage points by 2030.