Pakistan Ranks Low on Gender Equality Ranking
On Tuesday, October 28th, the World Economic Forum released its ninth annual Global Gender Report that uses the Global Gender Gap Index to measure and rank the scope of gender-based disparities in countries around the world. Pakistan ranked second to last at 141 out of 142--Pakistan’s third consecutive year in this position. The Global Gender Gap Index The Global Gender Gap Index aims to capture the complete scope of gender equality by focusing on four key areas: health, education, economics, and politics. By ranking countries, the World Economic Forum hopes to promote greater awareness on gender inequality.
Rather than focusing on the available resources and opportunities within a country, the Global Gender Gap Index looks at access to resources; the Index is independent from a country’s development. As a result, rich countries will not be shielded by their relative wealth and thus, greater resources for women, in relation to a smaller, less developed countries. A smaller gap in access to resources such as healthcare, education, economic stability, and political mobility will be rewarded, regardless of the overall level of these resources.
Pakistan Second to Last
According to the report, Nordic nations, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark reserve the top five spots in promoting gender equality. Yemen ranks below Pakistan in last place. Additionally, of 110 countries measured since 2006, 86 percent have improved their performance every year, while 14 percent have shown widened gaps. Pakistan is in the latter.
Nordic countries have served as “Nordic Nirvana” models for gender equality because of its commitment to mechanisms such as equal pay and reserved seats for women in parliament. Pakistan, in stark contrast, has mechanisms in place that inhibit women from opportunities to improve their quality of life. Economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment are all severely limited.
Pakistan has the lowest ranking in all of the Gender Gap Index indicators except for wage equality, which Yemen ranks the last in. Furthermore, since 2006, when the World Economic Forum first began issuing its annual Global Gender Gap Report, women in Pakistan have seen their access to economic participation and opportunity go down from 112 to 141.
In response, Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan, said, “Pakistan’s indicators have not changed much, instead other countries have shown improvements. Gender parity and socioeconomic empowerment has not been a priority for governments in Pakistan.”
Critics
The World Economic Forum’s report allows non-profit organizations, governments, businesses, and civil society to address the issue of gender equality in a more transparent way. However, the report is far from perfect. It still contains flaws such as failing to highlight real problems that women are facing throughout the world.
For instance, Rwanda, Burundi, and Nicaragua, all rank above Britain and the United States in the Global Gender Gap Index. Rwanda received a perfect score of 1.00 in labor market participation: 88 percent of women and 86 percent of men are found in the workforce. Britain in contrast has 7o percent of women in the workforce. The UK has a GDP per capita of $34,658; Rwanda’s is only $1,381. Rwandan women, unlike the women in Britain, are forced to work in order to survive due to their low quality of life. It seems that the Global Gender Gap Index’s greatest asset--ranking by gender accessibility to resources, is also its greatest detriment--failing to show that women in low GDP-per-capita countries are not necessarily living better lives with more access to subpar “opportunities.”
“Based on this trajectory, with all else remaining equal, it will take 81 years for the world to close this gap completely,” the WEF said in a statement. Perhaps this gap will truly be closed in 81 years, or perhaps it will only become a shield to more pressing issues such as starker socioeconomic gaps and poverty.