The
Philippines, where women and men enjoy the same access to education, remains in
the top 10 countries with the least gender gap, according to the 2011 Global
Gender Gap rankings by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum.
From ninth place last year, the Philippines
ranks eighth among 135 countries this year, with a score of 0.768.
The annual survey shows that four Nordic
countries—Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden—lead the world again in promoting
equality of the sexes. Other countries in the Top 10 are Ireland (5th), New
Zealand (6th), Denmark (7th), Lesotho (9th) and Switzerland (10th).
Countries in the bottom 10 are Nepal (126th),
Oman (127th), Benin (128th), Morocco (129th), Cote d’Ivoire (130th), Saudi
Arabia (131st), Mali (132nd), Pakistan (133rd), Chad (134th) and Yemen (135th).
Closing
gender gap
The world rankings are aimed at increasing the awareness of
countries on the importance of closing the gender gap, according to the World
Economic Forum (WEF).
"A world where women make up less than 20
per cent of the global decision-makers is a world that is missing a huge
opportunity for growth and ignoring an untapped reservoir of potential,"
Klaus Schwab, WEF founder and chair, said in a statement.
The Philippines performed favorably in the
four categories that determine gender gap. These are (1) educational
attainment, (2) health and survival, (3) economic participation and
opportunity, and (4) political empowerment.
The Philippines got the perfect score of 1,
and thus grabbing the first rank, for the first two categories.
For the first category, the Philippines shares
the top rank with 21 other countries, including the United States, the United
Kingdom, France and Australia.
The Philippines’ favorable performance in the
first category comes amid official reports that the number of females who
attend primary, secondary and tertiary education is about the same as that of
males. (In certain levels, females outnumber males.)
Life
expectancy
The country’s top rank in the second category
shows that women and men in the Philippines have just about the same life
expectancy. Life expectancy is affected by various factors, such as disease,
malnutrition and violence.
For the second category, the Philippines
shares the top rank with 37 other countries, including Finland, Lesotho, Latvia,
the Bahamas and Argentina.
In the third category of “economic
participation and opportunity,” the Philippines ranks 15th with a score of
0.763. In this category, countries are evaluated based on gaps between men and
women in terms of work participation, remuneration and advancement
opportunities.
Government
positions
In the fourth category of "political
empowerment," the Philippines ranks 16th with a score of 0.331. Countries
are evaluated in this category based on the gap between men and women in terms
of women-to-men ratio in government positions.
The world has made great progress in
eliminating inequality between men and women in health and education, but not
in economic participation and political empowerment, the WEF said.
But no country has closed the gap between men
and women when it comes to health and survival, educational attainment,
economic participation and opportunity and political empowerment.
The annual survey, released at a press
conference, showed that over the past six years about 85 per cent of countries
have narrowed the gender gap. But in other countries the gap widened and the
situation for women worsened, including in Nigeria, Mali, Colombia, Tanzania
and El Salvador.
Pakistan, Chad and Yemen were at the bottom of
the list.
Huge
gap in empowerment
Saadia Zahidi, head of the forum’s women
leaders and gender parity program, said the world as a whole had closed about
96 per cent of the gender gap in health and 93 per cent in education—but only
about 60 per cent of the gap in economic participation and less than 20 per
cent in political empowerment.
"So women are starting to be as healthy
and as educated as men, and yet, are not being channeled into the economy, into
decision-making structures," she said.
Zahidi said closing the gender gaps "are
directly correlated with increased economic competitiveness."
With the world focused on job creation and
economic growth, she said, "gender equality is the key to unlocking
potential and stimulating economies."
Major
strides
The survey shows that a number of relatively
poor countries have made major strides to close the gender gap and rank in the
top 25—the Philippines, Lesotho, South Africa, Cuba, the Bahamas and Burundi.
They outrank Russia at number 43, China at 51, Brazil at 82, Italy at 74, Qatar
at 111, India at 113 and Saudi Arabia at 131.
US Ambassador-at-large Melanne Verveer, who is
in charge of global women’s issues, said progress was being made, but women
still faced "significant hurdles" in getting access to finance,
markets and training and in leading companies where there is still "an
enormous glass ceiling."
WEF is an international organization of large
and multinational companies, mostly with annual turnover of US$5 billion. It
discusses various economic and social issues affecting development. With a
report from AP
Michelle V. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
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