Study shows gender gap is closing
Source: Agencies |
October 14, 2010, Thursday
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FOUR Scandinavian countries, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden, lead the world in eliminating inequality between men and women and the United States entered the top 20 nations for the first time, according to a survey of 134 nations.
France fell to 46th place, because it has fewer women in ministerial posts, the survey said. Many Arab and mainly Muslim countries remain near the bottom of the list.
The four Scandinavian countries have topped the Global Gender Gap Index since it was first released in 2006 by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum - Iceland came first for the second straight year.
"Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic competitiveness," Klaus Schwab, the forum's founder and executive chairman, said in a statement. "Women and girls must be treated equally if a country is to grow and prosper."
"We still need a true gender equality revolution, not only to mobilize a major pool of talent, but also to create a more compassionate value system within all our institutions," Schwab said.
The index assesses the 134 countries on how well they divide resources and opportunities between men and women, regardless of income level. It measures the size of the gender inequality gap in four areas - economic participation and opportunity, education, political attainment, health and survival.
Ricardo Hausmann, director of the Center for International Development at Harvard University who co-authored the report, said current data show 96 percent of health gaps and 93 percent of education gaps have been closed in the 134 countries, "and yet, only 60 percent of economic participation gaps have been closed," Hausmann said.
Co-author Saadia Zahidi, head of the forum's women leaders and gender parity program, said in a statement that five years of data covering 114 of the 134 countries show that 86 percent have narrowed their gender gaps while 14 percent have increased the gaps.
The top 20 countries include eight other European nations - Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Britain, the Netherlands and Latvia.
The Philippines remained at ninth place for the second year in a row, setting the example for Asia with its strong performance on all four assessment measures. Sri Lanka was in 16th place, Singapore climbed to 56th position from 84th last year and Japan moved up seven places to 94.
Lesotho topped the table for African countries at number eight overall. It was followed by South Africa at number 12, as a result of high numbers of women in parliament and ministerial positions and narrow gaps in the education system.
France fell to 46th place, because it has fewer women in ministerial posts, the survey said. Many Arab and mainly Muslim countries remain near the bottom of the list.
The four Scandinavian countries have topped the Global Gender Gap Index since it was first released in 2006 by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum - Iceland came first for the second straight year.
"Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic competitiveness," Klaus Schwab, the forum's founder and executive chairman, said in a statement. "Women and girls must be treated equally if a country is to grow and prosper."
"We still need a true gender equality revolution, not only to mobilize a major pool of talent, but also to create a more compassionate value system within all our institutions," Schwab said.
The index assesses the 134 countries on how well they divide resources and opportunities between men and women, regardless of income level. It measures the size of the gender inequality gap in four areas - economic participation and opportunity, education, political attainment, health and survival.
Ricardo Hausmann, director of the Center for International Development at Harvard University who co-authored the report, said current data show 96 percent of health gaps and 93 percent of education gaps have been closed in the 134 countries, "and yet, only 60 percent of economic participation gaps have been closed," Hausmann said.
Co-author Saadia Zahidi, head of the forum's women leaders and gender parity program, said in a statement that five years of data covering 114 of the 134 countries show that 86 percent have narrowed their gender gaps while 14 percent have increased the gaps.
The top 20 countries include eight other European nations - Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Britain, the Netherlands and Latvia.
The Philippines remained at ninth place for the second year in a row, setting the example for Asia with its strong performance on all four assessment measures. Sri Lanka was in 16th place, Singapore climbed to 56th position from 84th last year and Japan moved up seven places to 94.
Lesotho topped the table for African countries at number eight overall. It was followed by South Africa at number 12, as a result of high numbers of women in parliament and ministerial positions and narrow gaps in the education system.
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