Gender policy coherence: annual statement 2025

Foreword First Minister

I am very pleased to introduce the Scottish Government’s first annual statement on gender policy coherence. Improving equality for women and girls in Scotland is a priority for me, as it has been for previous First Ministers.

This annual statement has arisen in response to a recommendation from the First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls (NACWG). The NACWG was appointed by the former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, in 2017. The NACWG was asked to ‘be bold’ in championing gender equality and challenging thinking around how we can make Scotland a more equal country for women and girls, today and in the future.

In many ways, the context today, in 2025, is much different to 2017. We have lived through a series of major events, including Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and the cost-of-living crisis. The impact of these events have been felt deeply by all of us in Scotland – but we have not all been impacted equally. We know that such events have a disproportionate impact on certain groups, including women, people from minority ethnic communities, older people and disabled people. Of course, many people share a number of these characteristics in combination, often with deprivation as an additional aggravating factor.

Inequality existed before the crises of the last few years. But the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis exposed and worsened this inequality. In times of crisis, it can be easy to downplay the importance of equalities work, to see it as something that can wait until less tumultuous times. But our recent crises have shown the urgency and necessity of putting equality and human rights at the centre of our policies and decisions, across all areas of government.

That is why promoting gender equality and protecting the rights of women have remained top priorities for me in my first year as First Minister. The needs and rights of women are central throughout my government’s four priorities of eradicating child poverty, growing Scotland’s economy, tackling the climate emergency and improving Scotland’s public services.

We know that women’s poverty and child poverty are intrinsically linked; that women experience barriers in the labour market including discriminatory practices and the gender pay gap; that women globally feel the impact of the climate emergency most acutely; and that women are more likely to use and work for public services. Getting our policies right for women, and for the most disadvantaged women, means better outcomes for everyone.

And we really are making progress for women in many areas.

Our ambitious Women’s Health Plan has brought real change for Scotland. We launched our women’s health platform on NHS Inform to give women and girls access to comprehensive and reliable information about their health. We are now working on Phase Two of the Women’s Health Plan and we are just as ambitious as in Phase One. For example, we want to see cervical cancer eliminated – and we believe that this is something that can be achieved in our lifetimes.

We have strengthened the law in relation to violence against women and girls. Equally Safe, our strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls, is informed by the experience of survivors and by the expertise of professionals working in the field.

Scotland is the only part of the UK that already offers 1,140 hours of high-quality early learning and childcare to all three and four year olds and around a quarter of two year olds. This is regardless of whether their parents are working or not, because we are committed to promoting equality for all Scotland’s children, putting their interests first. Supporting families through high quality, affordable and accessible childcare is critical to supporting women in work and to keeping families out of poverty.

We are also taking some really important action internally and behind the scenes.

For example, our work on gender budgeting is helping us to improve how we think about how our spending and revenue raising impacts men and women differently, and if we can better use our budget process to reduce gender inequality.

We’re also strengthening the architecture in place to deliver on NACWG recommendations. And we have begun work on our Equality Strategy for Women and Girls. This will be co-designed with the NACWG and their Empowering Women Panel, putting women’s voices at the heart of our work.

I want to thank all Council members for sharing their time, expertise and vision, especially over such a turbulent few years. Special thanks go to Phase One Co-Chairs, Louise Macdonald and Ima Jackson, and to Phase Two Co-Chairs, Talat Yaqoob and Anna Ritchie Allan and all the NACWG members, throughout its lifetime. I am also grateful to the members of the Empowering Women Panel who have co-designed and supported the NACWG’s Phase Two work.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge that this feels like a very precarious time for equality and human rights. It can feel like the political headwinds are trying to undermine the hard-won progress that has been made. But we remain very much committed to advancing equality for women and girls. Gender equality is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s vision for a fairer Scotland.

John Swinney, First Minister