The politics of the global gender agenda: a pathway to empowerment.

What are the most significant achievements and challenges women have faced over the last 20 years? This chapter aims to provide a more in-depth explanation of women's pathway to empowerment in seven main areas: politics, health, education, work, post-conflict, agriculture, and reduction of sexual violence. Despite the significant progress in gender equality, nowadays there are critical challenges that can only be addressed by cultural and educational changes. There can be many fruitful policies that aim to reduce gender gaps in many spheres but changing unfavorable social beliefs, behaviors, stereotypes, and any kind of violence against women is crucial to achieving this goal. Thus, the definition of a gender agenda is vital to establish the starting point towards women empowerment worldwide and to provide minims that governments must achieve in gender equality. This definition depends on each region's needs, but women face more urgent problems for gender equality in access to healthcare services, information, and credit, especially in rural areas.