it is the scourge of sexual and genderbased violence that leaves women and girls furthest behind in terms of development locking them in situations of poverty and vulnerability that persist across generations if we are to achieve the sdgs and eliminate genderbased violence by it will be critical to economically empower women and foster peaceful just and inclusive societies in many of these contexts especially in agricultural societies women are the backbone of the informal economy girls are unable to safely attend school to cite just one example more than half of all sexual assaults documented in darfur sudan occur in the course of essential sustenance activities such as when women are forced to venture out to remote areas to collect fuel and firewood moreover the burden of care that war leaves behind in its wake including care for the wounded sick traumatized and orphaned is disproportionately borne by women