Which Asian country is on Top 10 best countries for women?

GUESS | Which Asian country is on Top 10 best countries for women?

October 27, 2013 6:54 AM

MAP FROM THE GLOBAL GENDER GAP REPORT 2013 OF THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

MAP FROM THE GLOBAL GENDER GAP REPORT 2013 OF THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

MANILA – (UPDATE, 3:13 p.m.) What is the only country in Asia on the Top 10 best countries for women, or in the words of the annual World Economic Forum report, the 10 most advanced countries in terms of gender equality?
The Philippines ranks No. 5 in the list of 136 countries studied on the four key areas of economic participation and opportunity, political empowerment, health and survival, and educational attainment. It carried the women’s banner for Asia “primarily due to success in health, education, and economic participation.”
The Global Gender Gap Report 2013, released last week, placed the following four Scandinavian countries ahead of the Philippines: Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
The sixth to 10th place are occupied by the rich OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries of Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark, and Switzerland, with the Latin American Nicaragua (the other non-OECD country) closing the list.
The only superpower in the world, the United States, ranks 23rd, down one place from last year. The other Philippine colonizer, Spain, placed 30th.
The big players in Asia are also way below the Philippines. China stays in the same position as last year at 69th. Even after gaining four places from last year, India remains the lowest-ranked of the BRICS economies at 101st. Japan slips four places despite some improvements in the economic participation and opportunity sub-index score to 105th. The other Asian powerhouse, South Korea, is at 111th.
Among its peers in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the Philippines is far ahead of Singapore, which ranks 58th; Malaysia, 102nd; Indonesia, 95th; Thailand, 65th; Vietnam, 73rd; Brunei, 88th; Cambodia, 104th; and Laos, 60th. Myanmar is not part of the report.
The Global Gender Gap Report, introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006, provides a framework for capturing the breadth and depth of gender-based disparities around the world. The index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, and education- and health-based criteria, and provides country rankings for comparison across regions and income groups and over time.
The rankings are designed to create greater awareness of the challenges posed by gender gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them. The methodology and quantitative analysis behind the rankings are intended to serve as a basis for designing effective measures for reducing gender gaps.
WEF, which released the list, is best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland. The meeting brings together some 2,500 top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals, and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world, including health and the environment.
WEF describes itself as an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.
Slight improvement for the rest of the world
Overall, 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 report.
Based on the eight years of data available for the 110 countries that have been part of the report since its inception, the report finds that most countries covered have made “slow progress on closing gender gaps.
Among the G20 economies, Germany placed highest at 14th place 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. The next highest BRICS nation is Russia (61st), followed by Brazil (62nd).
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.
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.
Of the 133 countries measured in both 2012 and 2013, a total of 86 actually improved their gender gap during this time, with the area of political participation seeing the greatest progress.
By region
Europe's progress towards eliminating its gender gap is polarized, with countries from Northern and Western Europe presenting a stark contrast to those from the South and East. Spain comes in 30th, having closed 72% of its gender gap, France ranks 45th (70% closed) while Italy ranks 71st.
Latin America's leading nation when it comes to closing the gender gap is Nicaragua. At 10, it has now ranked in the top 10 for two years, largely on the back of a strong performance in terms of political empowerment. Cuba is next (15th), followed by Ecuador (25th). Mexico climbs 16 places to 68th, due to increases in the number of female parliamentarians and the number of women in professional roles. Brazil holds firm at 62nd despite a slight improvement in its overall score.
The Middle East and North Africa is the only region not to have improved its overall standing in 2013. The highest placed country in the region is the United Arab Emirates (109th), which has achieved parity in education. Nevertheless most countries in the region, including Bahrain (112th), Qatar (115th), and others are still failing to adequately capitalize on the investments in education through greater economic and political contributions from women.
A number of countries in Africa fare relatively well in this year’s report, with Lesotho (16th), South Africa (17th), Burundi (22nd), and Mozambique (26th) all in the top 30. This is largely due to the participation of women in the workforce.
Through this economic activity, women have greater access to income and economic decision-making, but are often present in low-skilled and low-paid sectors of the economy.
Emerging groups
The index shows four broad groups emerging. The first group comprises those that have made investments in women’s health and education and are now seeing a return in terms of economic and political participation. In a second group are countries that are investing in these areas yet failing to exploit their additional talent pool due to prevailing social and institutional barriers.
In the third group are countries where significant education and health gaps are preventing women from achieving their full potential even though they fulfill an important role in the workforce, often in low-skilled labor. The last group comprises countries that have large education, economic and political gaps.
“Countries will need to start thinking of human capital very differently – including how they integrate women into leadership roles. This shift in mindset and practice is not a goal for the future, it is an imperative today,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.
“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 Program.

Source :

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