An end to poverty, access to a good education and healthcare, freedom from violence, protection of reproductive rights, and sustainable livelihoods are still basic objectives of gender equality work worldwide. This paper takes this historical gender equality work as a given, and instead highlights both the shifting backdrop for this work, as well as new considerations and work agendas that have emerged in our efforts towards gender equality. From militarization to globalization, a fast-changing global terrain is dictating new challenges and new ways of approaching the women's rights agenda. This discussion paper explores these trends as well as the convergence of work inside the fields of gender and development and women's rights. Also presented here, is an overview of the ways in which gender equality advocates are trying to improve how we understand and confront gender inequality.