The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SDG 5. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. How has progress towards this end been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? A new report, the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2020, released in July by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) presents an overview of progress towards the SDGs before the pandemic started, but it also looks at some of the devastating initial impacts of COVID-19 on specific goals and targets. We focus here on SDG 5: Gender equality and empower all women and girls.