Macao's Women's Development Goals Plan

Macao SAR's Women and Children Affairs Committee coordinated a first Women's Development Goals plan from 2019 to 2025, spanning 278 action items across 21 public departments covering health, employment, family policy and women's participation in public decision-making. At an October 2025 'Beijing+30' review session, officials reported that all 278 actions had been implemented, citing improved public awareness of gender issues and more equitable labour policies.
A follow-on Women's Development Goals Plan for 2026-2032, unveiled in May 2026, sets out 66 further policy measures (43 short-term, 13 medium-term and 10 long-term) across eight priority areas, including gender mainstreaming and women's representation in decision-making.
Independent scrutiny complicates the government's account of progress: the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights found in 2023 that women's representation in senior public and private positions in Macao remained 'unsatisfactory', and local reporting at the time noted that only one of Macao's five government secretaries and five of its 33 Legislative Assembly deputies were women - around 20% and 15% respectively. The plans' process indicators (departments involved, actions completed) are well documented, but hard outcome data on decision-making representation still shows a substantial gap.

Read the full analysis: https://macaonews.org/news/community/macau-women-developmental-goals-2026-2032/