restricted movement and economic strain. The lockdown has increased the cases of women and girls violence with over 30% domestic violence increase. All of these impacts are made worse in contexts where countries have fragile and non-cohesive structures that are able to protect women and girls. The lack of strong institutional and systemic social cohesion continues to undermine the capacity and services needed to progressively achieve gender equality. The pandemic has affected national statistical systems as data collection operation is now a major workload for statistical agencies in countries with limited resources thereby pushing gender data way down the priority ladder. Links with other SDGs Even though SDG 5 is a stand-alone goal, other SDGs can only be achieved if the needs of women receive the same attention as the needs of men. Issues unique to women and girls include traditional practices such as female genital mutilation. Gender equity experts state that without progress on Goal 5, the other goals and targets cannot be achieved. The link between SDG 5 and the other SDGs has been extensively analysed by UN Women's report on gender equality in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. For example, access to decent work and regular income for women directly contributes not only to poverty reduction (SDG 1) but also support better education (SDG 4), zero hunger (SDG 2), good health and wellbeing (SDG 3) outcomes. Eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls (Target 5.2) is not only an essential component of SDG 5 but also critical to ensuring healthy lives and well-being for people of all ages (SDG 3). Women subjected to sexual or physical intimate partner violence are 1.5 times as likely to become infected with HIV (Target 3.3). Environmental degradation (SDG 13) has effects on food production, food safety and economic security of societies that depend on agriculture where women are. Eliminating these and other gender-specific constraints and other forms of discrimination is thus a critical agenda for SDG 5. Organizations Several global organizations have vowed to achieve progress towards SDG 5 in various ways. For example: UN Women works for the empowerment of women. Equality Now advocates for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls. Vital Voices works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights. UNDP works to promote women's participation and leadership in all forms of