With only five years remaining to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deadline of 2030, global experts are raising the alarm over an escalating wave of anti-rights and anti-gender ideologies that threaten decades of progress in gender equality, health rights, and inclusive development, issues that are already affecting countries like Nigeria.
In a powerful warning during the SHE & Rights session at the ICFP 2025, gender justice advocates and health experts highlighted how political, religious, and conservative movements are reversing gains made in sexual and reproductive health, LGBTQIA+ rights, and gender-inclusive policies.
Director of CAISO: Sex & Gender Justice in Trinidad and Tobago, and a Senior Lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Dr. Angelique Nixon noted that
“Gender equality and human rights are not optional. They are the only pathway toward sustainable development where no one is left behind.”
According to Dr. Nixon, rising anti-gender sentiments are being pushed by global conservative alliances, particularly from the Global North, such as Agenda Europe and the World Congress of Families.
These organisations, she said, actively fund regressive campaigns around the world, including the Caribbean, where they have opposed abortion, divorce, and LGBTQIA+ rights.
Their influence is not abstract. In Trinidad and Tobago, a landmark 2018 High Court judgment that decriminalized same-sex relations was overturned in 2024, effectively recriminalizing consensual same-sex practices.
“This latest court ruling is devastating. It shows how anti-gender and anti-rights forces maintain social and political power, obstructing justice and endangering vulnerable communities,” Nixon noted.
In Nigeria, similar dynamics are at play. The Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, passed in 2014, has been widely condemned for restricting access to health services.
It has led to a 41% decline in HIV service uptake among men who have sex with men, highlighting how legal repression intersects with public health crises.
Despite the SDGs’ pledge to “leave no one behind,” transgender communities remain sidelined.
Abhina Aher, a noted transgender rights activist from India, said transgender people are being excluded both from society and from within the broader LGBTQIA+ movement.
“Transgender organisations and individuals need space to push for their own rights. Without inclusion, SDG promises are empty,” she said.
Aher also stressed the devastating impact of intersectional stigma and job discrimination on transgender people.
“I lost my job with USAID just for being transgender. Many others are quietly forced out. This is a crisis,” she added.
Another major threat identified is the rapid decline in global HIV funding, which experts fear could roll back 20 years of progress.
UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia Pacific,
Eamonn Murphy warned that current funding cuts will result in a dangerous spike in infections and AIDS-related deaths by 2030.
Nine countries in the Asia Pacific region, including Fiji, the Philippines, and Afghanistan, have seen dramatic rises in new HIV cases between 2010 and 2024. Fiji alone recorded a 3091% increase in new infections.
In Africa, where 20 million people are accessing lifesaving antiretroviral therapy, progress remains fragile. In 2024, 800,000 new infections were recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, 63% of them among women and girls.
A Legal Representative with OurEquity in South Africa, Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane said “HIV is not just a virus. It is rooted in inequality. Gender-based violence, criminalisation of sex work and same-sex relations all fuel the epidemic.”
He noted that only 40% of young women in sub-Saharan Africa have comprehensive HIV prevention knowledge, and survivors of violence are 50% more likely to contract HIV.
Letlhogonolo emphasized that health and justice are closely linked, noting that countries with higher levels of gender equality tend to record lower HIV infection rates.
He cited Botswana as an example where legal reforms have contributed to improved health outcomes. According to him, achieving sustainable development is impossible without addressing issues of justice.
Pam Ntshekula of the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) in South Africa made a strong case for decriminalizing sex work.
“Sex workers deserve to live and work with dignity. Criminalisation increases their vulnerability to violence, poor health access, and police abuse. Decriminalisation is about human rights, safety, and justice,” she said.
She highlighted how stigma discourages sex workers from accessing essential services, including sexual and reproductive healthcare, HIV prevention, and mental health support.
Lead Discussant on SDG-3 at the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF 2025), Shobha Shukla emphasized that gender equality is inseparable from the right to health.
“You cannot achieve SDG-3, good health and well-being, without addressing SDG-5 on gender equality. Yet we are seeing regressions due to funding cuts, conservative policies, and austerity,” she warned.
Essential health services, she said, must include comprehensive sexual and reproductive care, mental health, and services for survivors of gender-based violence. Special attention must also be paid to marginalized groups, including people with disabilities, migrant workers, indigenous peoples, and the LGBTQIA+ community.
In Nigeria, these global warnings are not theoretical. The country has witnessed a stagnation in gender equality metrics and faces persistent threats to LGBTQIA+ rights under repressive laws. Maternal mortality remains one of the highest globally, while access to reproductive health services is uneven and often inaccessible to rural or poor women.
Nigeria also continues to face challenges in meeting HIV treatment targets for key populations, in part due to stigma and criminalization. With dwindling international aid and competing national priorities, the country’s health systems are increasingly strained—especially in the context of a growing youth population.
A renowed rights advocate and a a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana said in a interview said, “If Nigeria fails to address the structural issues of inequality, discrimination, and legal barriers, achieving the SDGs will remain a distant dream.”
As global advocates unite in the call for Development Justice Now, the message is clear: governments must urgently recommit to bold structural reforms. These include protecting and expanding sexual and reproductive health rights, decriminalising same-sex relationships and sex work, and building gender-inclusive, rights-based health systems. Stakeholders are also calling for decisive action to close funding gaps threatening HIV responses and to promote legal and social reforms that uphold dignity, equity, and justice for all.
The SHE & Rights session was co-hosted by the Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI), International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP 2025), Family Planning News Network (FPNN), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), Asia Pacific Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media), and CNS.
With only five years left to 2030, the clock is ticking. The SDG promise to “leave no one behind” must be more than a slogan, it must be a global reality, including in Nigeria.