Pakistan ranked 153rd in Global Gender Gap Index of 156 countries
Pakistan among the four worst performing countries as far as gender parity is concerned
According to
the ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2021’ released by the World Economic Forum (WEF),
Pakistan has been ranked 153rd in the index of 156 countries.
Pakistan continues to show dismal performance on gender parity.
Pakistan has
made some progress on legislation to protect and empower women in recent years,
but ground reality hasn’t changed much over the years. The women still faces
social, economic and political discrimination. The women have fewer
opportunities in education, health and economic fields.
A focus on
women empowerment in 2021 is critical to the country’s socio-economic growth.
The hope remains that Pakistan, through dedicated effort, will see a change for
the better in women’s safety and gender equality measures.
The report
found that Pakistan's gender gap had widened by 0.7 percentage points, to 55.6
per cent, making it one of the worst countries for gender parity. Only three
countries Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan have showed worst performance on gender
parity.
The
scorecard for the country places Pakistan at 152 in economic participation and
opportunity, 144 in educational attainment, 153 in health and survival, and 98
in political empowerment.
In the South
Asian region, Pakistan ranked seventh among eight countries, Afghanistan being
the lowest. In its overall observation, the report commented that
"progress has stagnated", observing that the estimated time to close
the gender gap has now increased to 136.5 years. The country closed just 31.6pc
of its gender gap in economic participation and opportunity. It also pointed
out that the Covid-19 pandemic may have widened the existing disparities.
Pakistan's
rankings have worsened over time, with data collected showing that in 2006, the
country ranked 112 in economic participation and opportunity, 110 in education
attainment, 112 in health and survival, and 37 in political empowerment.
"Few
women participate in the labour force (22.6%) and even fewer are in managerial
positions (4.9%). This means that only 26.7% and 5.2%, respectively, of these
gaps have been closed so far, translating into very large income disparities
between women and men: on average, a Pakistani woman's income is 16.3% of a
man's," the report stated.
However,
improvement has been seen with more women taking on professional and technical
roles — 25.3%, up from 23.4% in the previous edition of the index. It pointed
out that women do not have equal access to justice, ownership of land, and
non-financial assets or inheritance rights.
When it
comes to education, gender gaps as large as 13% or more exist across all
levels. According to the report, "these gaps are the widest at lower
education levels (84.1% primary enrolment gap closed) and are somewhat narrower
for higher education levels (84.7% gap closed in secondary enrolment and 87.1%
closed in tertiary enrolment).
"Further,
only 46.5% of women are literate, 61.6% attend primary school, 34.2% attend
high school and 8.3% are enrolled in tertiary education courses."
Pakistan has
closed 94.4% of its health and survival gender gap, the report stated, adding
that the gap on this sub-index was negatively impacted by wide sex ratio at
birth (92%) due to gender-based sex-selective practices. Almost 85% of women
have suffered intimate partner violence, it further said.
Pakistan's
rank is relatively higher for political empowerment, the report said, observing
however that only 15.4% of this gap has been closed to date. "With just
4.7 years (in the last 50) with a woman as head of state, Pakistan is one of
the top 33 countries in the world on this indicator. However, women's
representation among parliamentarians (20.2%) and ministers (10.7%) remains
low."
"Within
the region, a wide gulf separates the best-performing country, Bangladesh,
which has closed 71.9% of its gender gap so far, from Afghanistan, which has
only closed 44.4pc of its gap. India is the third-worst performer in the region,
having closed 62.5% of its gap.
"Only
Bhutan and Nepal have demonstrated small but positive progress towards gender
parity this year, while all other countries in this region have registered
either slightly reduced or stagnant performances," the report stated.
According to
the recent World Bank report, a female child born in Pakistan today has 59 per
cent fewer chances of reaching her full potential. The number is the lowest
amongst all countries in the region, and most others in lower-income groups. If
the HCI measures are believed, Pakistan is wasting nearly 60 per cent of its
human potential.
Rukhsana Manzoor Deputy
Editor
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