2022 was a "year of extremes". The world witnessed the highest number of violent conflicts since 1945, with more than 103 million people forcibly displaced worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic continued to disrupt economies, education and health systems, and the global climate catastrophe spiralled further out of control, with heat waves, droughts, floods and other disasters affecting billions. Additionally, economic inequalities grew alarmingly, with 75 million to 95 million more people living in extreme poverty in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic levels. These conditions have pushed the world off track in its efforts to achieve, by 2030, universal health coverage, gender equality and other essential targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. Women and young people continue to bear the brunt of the consequences.

UNFPA rose to the challenge despite these multiple and overlapping crises. The organization scaled up its humanitarian support to provide life-saving services to over 30 million women and young people in 60 emergencies around the world. UNFPA sounded the alarm over stagnating progress in reducing maternal death in 133 countries during the period from 2016 to 2020. And despite the twin economic constraints of inflation and rising energy costs, UNFPA continued to mobilize resources for sexual and reproductive health and rights, including by securing commitments from Governments and by leveraging partnerships and new funding mechanisms. Such efforts offered a lifeline amid the intensifying threats of populism and pushback against gender equality and reproductive rights.

But the year was not simply one of extreme hardship; 2022 also saw remarkable signs of progress. Perhaps most notably, the human population reached 8 billion, the result of historic advances in medicine, science, nutrition, public health and more. Many countries made strides in protecting reproductive health and rights; a historic international agreement called for accountability in addressing climate change; and the global chorus of communities calling for racial, gender and reproductive justice gathered momentum. UNFPA was able to deepen in its support for women-led, youth-led and feminist community organizations and social enterprises. Additionally, progress was made in integrating sexual and reproductive health into national policies and development frameworks, and in the scale-up of interventions to address harmful gender and social norms. Some 6.4 million marginalized adolescent girls were empowered through UNFPA-supported programmes, and youth-led initiatives to prevent maternal mortality, end unmet need for family planning and end gender-based violence were supported in 88 countries, a testament to the tireless labour and leadership of UNFPA’s staff and partners around the world.