India slipped two places on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap index to 129th place as Iceland retained its top position in the rankings. In South Asia, India was ranked fifth after Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan while Pakistan was ranked last. In the world, Sudan was ranked last on the index of 146 countries while Pakistan fell three places to 145th.
India was among the economies with the lowest levels of economic parity, with Bangladesh, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, and Morocco as all of them registered less than 30 per cent gender parity in estimated earned income. India showed the best gender parity in terms of enrolment in secondary education and ranked 65th globally on political empowerment of women.
With regard to parity in number of years with female/male heads of state for the last 50 years, India ranked 10th.
The WEF said India’s economic parity score has trended upwards for the past four years and the world has closed 68.5 per cent of the gender gap but at the current pace it will take another 134 years to achieve full gender parity.
“Despite some bright spots, the slow and incremental gains highlighted in this year’s Global Gender Gap Report underscore the urgent need for a renewed global commitment to achieving gender parity, particularly in economic and political spheres,” WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said.
“We cannot wait until 2158 for parity. The time for decisive action is now,” she added.
Meet Mahtab Ahmad, known for his keen insights into the latest trends and news. Join Mahtab on his blog, where every post is a exploration of the ever-evolving now.