Pakistan hits bottom on the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum.
Pakistan moves down in the rankings from 134th to 135th position due to a worsening in political empowerment and occupies the last spot in the Asia and Pacific region. The country performed among the worst in the world on the Economic Participation and Opportunity by securing the 135th position among 136 countries globally.
Pakistan has shown poor performance on all indicators of the Global Gender Gap (GGG) Report, issued by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The world’s gender gaps narrowed slightly in 2013 on the back of definite if not universal improvements in economic equality and political participation between the sexes, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2013, published today.
“Both within countries and between countries are two distinct tracks to economic gender equality, with education serving as the accelerator. For countries that provide this basic investment, women’s integration in the workforce is the next frontier of change. For those that haven’t invested in women’s education, addressing this obstacle is critical to women’s lives as well as the strength of economies,” said Saadia Zahidi, co-author of the Report and Head of the Women Leaders and Gender Parity Programme. The areas where Pakistan showed improvements are labour force participation (134 last year to 131 this year), estimated earned income (131 to 129 this year), enrollment in primary education (133 last year to 125 this year), enrollment in secondary education (126 in 2012 to 114 this year) and enrollment in tertiary education (105 last year to 95 this year).
Other countries however out-shined Pakistan’s gains by adopting pro-active approach for bridging the gender gap. The country shows no progress on improving it’s ranking on most of the indicators of the GGG index. This identifies lack of commitment from the policy makers both at public as well as private sector to include more women’s participation in economic, social and political spheres. Among areas where Pakistan lost its rankings are; wage equality for similar work 110 in 2012 to 113 in 2013.The level of gender parity among professional and technical workers was downgraded, losing 3 points for Pakistan, ranking at 108 among the 136 countries globally.
On the political empowerment pillar, although Pakistan is doing relatively better, it still lost 12 points on the Political Empowerment pillar and stands at 64 this year, similarly, women in parliament has been ranked 64 this year, as compared to 52 in 2012. The report also shows that Pakistan has a large undocumented economy, where 3% of the female population has an account in a formal financial institution, the percentage for male population is 17%. The female and male employment in the informal sector (% of non-agricultural employment) 76% and 79% respectively.
On the political empowerment pillar, although Pakistan is doing relatively better, it still lost 12 points on the Political Empowerment pillar and stands at 64 this year, similarly, women in parliament has been ranked 64 this year, as compared to 52 in 2012. The report also shows that Pakistan has a large undocumented economy, where 3% of the female population has an account in a formal financial institution, the percentage for male population is 17%. The female and male employment in the informal sector (% of non-agricultural employment) 76% and 79% respectively.
Elsewhere, in 14th place Germany is the highest-placed individual G20 economy, although it falls one place from 2012. Next is South Africa (17th, down one), the United Kingdom (level on 18th) and Canada (up one to 20th). The United States comes 23rd, also down one place since 2012. After South Africa, the next highest BRICS nation is Russia (61st), followed by Brazil (62nd), China (69th) and India (101st). At the bottom of the ranking are Chad (134th), Pakistan (135th) and Yemen (136th).
At the global level, the Report finds that in 2013, 96% of the health and survival gender gap has now been closed. It is the only one of the four pillars that has widened since the Report was first compiled in 2006. In terms of education, the global gender gap stands at 93%, with 25 countries having closed their gaps completely.
At the global level, the Report finds that in 2013, 96% of the health and survival gender gap has now been closed. It is the only one of the four pillars that has widened since the Report was first compiled in 2006. In terms of education, the global gender gap stands at 93%, with 25 countries having closed their gaps completely.
The gender gaps for economic equality and political participation are only 60% and 21% closed respectively, although progress is being made in these areas, with political participation narrowing by almost 2% over the last year. In both developing and developed countries alike, relative to the numbers of women in tertiary education and in the workforce overall, women’s presence in economic leadership positions is limited. To mobilize various stakeholders and to keep track of progress, it is important that there are quantitative benchmarks widely available.
Since 2006, through the Global Gender Gap Report series, the World Economic Forum has been quantifying the magnitude of gender- based disparities and tracking their progress over time. By providing a comprehensive framework for benchmarking global gender gaps, the Report identifies countries that are role models in dividing their resources equitably between women and men, regardless of the overall resource level.
Mishal Pakistan is the country partner institute of the Center for Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Networks of the World Economic Forum. Established in 2003, Mishal has been engaged with key stakeholders in Pakistan to improve the state of competitiveness and media through good governance initiatives.
Download the full report, covering 136 economies including rankings, video and an interactive map.
