"Active resistance to gender equality and chronic under-investment are key factors in slow progress and, in some cases, reversals of gains already made," the U.N. said.

The United Nations goal of achieving gender equality by 2030 is impossible to attain because of deeply rooted biases against women around the world in health, education, employment and the halls of power, the U.N. said in a report Thursday.

“The world is failing women and girls,” UN Women, the agency promoting gender equality, and the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in “The Gender Snapshot 2023” report.

According to the U.N.’s findings, “ active resistance to gender equality and chronic under-investment are key factors in slow progress and, in some cases, reversals of gains already made.” It said “unequal access to sexual and reproductive health, unequal political representation, economic disparities and a lack of legal protection, among other issues, prevent tangible progress.”

Assistant Secretary-General Maria-Francesca Spatolisano told a news conference launching the report that gender equality is becoming “an ever increasingly distant goal.” She pointed to recent setbacks for women and girls living in fragile and conflict-affected countries, the impact of climate change, and “active resistance to gender equality and chronic underinvestment” that are slowing and in some cases reversing progress.

The report assessing the progress for women in achieving the 17 U,N. goals for 2030 on issues ranging from poverty and education to climate change and human rights paints a grim picture of the gender gap, and the “lackluster commitment” globally to equality for women.

On a key goal of eradicating extreme poverty, the report said, one in every 10 women today, or 10.3%, lives on less than $2.15 a day — the extreme poverty level. If current trends continue, it said, 8% of the world’s female population, 342.4 women and girls, will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030, most in Sub-Saharan Africa.

While overall access to education is rising for girls and boys, the U.N. report said millions of girls never enter a classroom or complete their education, especially in conflict areas. The goal calls for every child to receive quality secondary school education, yet in Afghanistan, it said, the Taliban rulers have banned education for girls beyond elementary school.

“In 2023, up to 129 million girls and young women may be out of school globally,” the report said. “At current rates of progress, an estimated 110 million will remain out of school in 2030.”

As for the goal of decent work, the report said less than two-thirds of women aged 25 to 54 — 61.4% — were in the labor force in 2022 compared to 90.6% of men, and the women were paid far less.

“In 2019, for each dollar men earned in labor income, women earned only 51 cents,” it said.

In jobs critical to the future in science, technology and innovation, the report said, “ongoing gender barriers limit women’s roles,” which is evident as the field of artificial intelligence takes off.