Gender equality?

India ranks a poor 114th

India has been ranked in the bottom half among 134 countries in terms of gender

equality, in WEF's latest ranking that assessed the distribution of resources and

opportunities among males and females.

Slipping one place from last year, India has cornered the 114th position in the World

Economic Forum's 'The Global Gender Gap Index 2009 rankings' which is topped by

Iceland.Apart from Iceland, the list features three more Nordic nations at the

top -- Finland (2), Norway (3) and Sweden (4) -- while New Zealand

is at the fifth spot.

3.Though placed way ahead of India, neighbouring China has dropped to the

60th position. The country had cornered the 57th spot last year."India (114),

Korea (115), Iran (128) and Pakistan (132) continue to hold some of the lowest

positions in the Asian rankings."While India, Iran and Pakistan perform very poorly

on the economic, education and health subindexes, their overall scores are partially

bolstered by relatively good performances on political empowerment," the WEF said.

In 2007 too, India was ranked 114th, while the country had cornered the 98th place

in 2006.
4.Other countries in the top ten are South Africa (6), Denmark (7), Ireland (8),

Philippines (9) and Lesotho (10).The United Kingdom is ranked 15th, while the

United States is in the 31st spot.Among other BRIC nations, Brazil is at the 82nd

spot while Russia is ranked 51st.The report's index assesses countries on how well

they are dividing their resources and opportunities among their male and female

populations, regardless of the overall levels of these resources and opportunities.

5.South Africa and Lesotho made great strides in closing their gender gaps to enter

the top 10, at 6th and 10th position, respectively.The latest data reveals that

South Africa in particular made significant improvements in female labour force

participation.Gains for women in parliament and women ministers in the new

government also helped close the gender gap in the country.

6. Philippines (9) lost ground for the first time in four years but remains the leading

Asian country in the rankings. Paraguay (66) climbed a record 36 spots, leading a

charge by several Latin American countries including Ecuador (23), Nicaragua (49),

Costa Rica (27), Peru (44), El Salvador (55), Chile (64) and the Dominican

Republic (67). Botswana (39) made the second biggest improvement of 26 places

thanks to a major increase in labour force participation according to the latest data

from the UNDP, plus greater wage equality for women.

7.Japan's (75) ranking improved by 25 places relative to last year largely due to

increases in the proportion of women in professional and technical positions as well

as legislators, senior officials and managers. The United States (31) fell by three places,

owing to minor drops in the participation of women in the economy and improvements

in the scores of previously lower-ranking countries.Germany (12) and the

United Kingdom (15) again slipped down the Index this year. Switzerland (13)

advanced for a second consecutive year as a result of greater female participation

in the economy. Italy (72) continues to hold one of the lowest positions among

European countries and dropped three spots relative to 2008 due to persistently

poor scores in economic participation.

8.At the bottom part of the rankings, India (114), Bahrain (116), Ethiopia (122),

Morocco (124), Egypt (126) and Saudi Arabia (130) all made improvements relative

to their rankings last year. This was driven mainly by small improvements in the

economic participation of women. Iran (128), Turkey (129), Pakistan (132) and

Yemen (134), already at the bottom of the rankings, displayed an absolute decline

relative to their performance in 2008. The Republic of Korea and Mongolia were

among the top countries to narrow wage gaps, while in Austria and Belgium income

disparities widened the most.Women entering senior official, managerial and legislator

roles shot up most in Japan and Uganda, while Croatia and Costa Rica saw these gaps

widen markedly.
The Global Gender Gap Report measures the size of the gender inequality gap

four critical areas:

Economic participation and opportunity: Outcomes on salaries, participation

vels and access to high-skilled employment

Educational attainment: Outcomes on access to basic and higher level education

Political empowerment: Outcomes on representation in decision-making structures

Health and survival: Outcomes on life expectancy and sex ratio The Index's scores
n be interpreted as the percentage of the gap that has been closed between women
d men.
A."Girls and women make up one half of the world's population and without their

engagement, empowerment and contribution, we cannot hope to achieve a rapid

economic recovery nor effectively tackle global challenges such as climate change,

food security and conflict," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman,

World Economic Forum.

B."The Forum works year-round with leaders on ways to close gender gaps through

its Women Leaders and Gender Parity Programme, and this report underpins their work.“

The Global Gender Parity Group, a community of highly influential leaders from business,

politics, academia, media and civil society -- 50% women and 50% men -- seeks to

share best practices and identify strategies to optimize the use of talent.
C."Out of the 115 countries covered in the report since 2006, more than two-thirds

have posted gains in overall index scores, indicating that the world in general has

made progress towards equality between men and women, although there are countries

that continue to lose ground. We have included a section on the dynamics of the gender

gap and found that progress is achieved when countries find ways to make marriage

and motherhood compatible with the economic participation of women," said co-author

Ricardo Hausmann, director of the Centre for International Development at

Harvard University, USA.

D."The Global Gender Gap Report demonstrates that closing the gender gap in all

aspects of life provides a foundation for a prosperous and competitive society.

Leaders should act in accordance with this finding as they rebuild their battered

economies and set them on course for sustainable long-run growth," said co-author

Laura Tyson, Professor of Business Administration and Economics,

University of California, Berkeley, USA.

E."Countries that do not fully capitalize on one-half of their human resources run the

risk of undermining their competitive potential. We hope to highlight the economic

incentive behind empowering women, in addition to promoting equality as a basic

human right," said co-author Saadia Zahidi, Head of the Forum's Women Leaders

and Gender Parity Programme. Watch the interview. 

F.The Forum continues to expand geographic coverage in the report. Featuring a

total of 134 countries, this year's report provides insight into the gaps between

women and men in over 93% of the world's population. Thirteen out of the 14

variables used to create the Index are from publicly available hard data indicators

from international organizations, such as the International Labour Organization,

the United Nations Development Programme and the World Health Organization.
1) Among the 134 countries covered in this report, Ireland has the lowest maternal
mortality ratio (1 death among 100,000 live births), while Chad has the highest
maternal mortality ratio (1,500 deaths among 100,000 live births). Twenty-four
countries have a maternal mortality ratio of greater than 500 deaths per 100,000
live births.

• Annually, more than half a million women and girls die in pregnancy and childbirth
and 3.7 million newborns die within their first 28 days.

• 99% of maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Half of these occur in

sub-Saharan Africa and another third in South Asia.

• A woman in a least-developed country is 300 times more likely to die from causes
related to pregnancy and childbirth than a woman in an industrialized country in her
lifetime.

• Maternal and newborn health are intimately linked. Children who have lost their
mothers are four times more likely to die prematurely than those who have not.
2) is estimated that for every woman who dies, another 20 suffer from illness or
disability as a result of pregnancy or childbirth--around 10 million women a year.

• Many of these women not only face discomfort and emotional distress,
but are shunned by their families.

• Every year about 1 million children are left motherless and vulnerable.7
They are less likely to attend school, which in turn means that they risk a life
living in poverty as adults.

• Approximately 80% of maternal deaths could be averted if women had access to

essential maternity and basic healthcare services.

• The five major direct causes of maternal death in developing countries are severe
bleeding, infection, hypertension, complications from unsafe abortion and
prolonged/ obstructed labour.

• About 20% of maternal deaths have indirect causes that complicate pregnancy or
childbirth such as malaria, anaemia, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.
3) Another serious factor is insufficient access for women and girls to nutritious
food and essential micronutrients.

• Weak healthcare systems often do not prioritize women's health.

• A lack of skilled health workers to support a woman through pregnancy, childbirth

and post-natal care. There is evidence that worker numbers and quality are
positively associated with maternal survival
4) Ingrid Srinath at the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland

Ingrid Srinath, Secretary General, CIVICUS Speaking during the session

'Insights on India' Ingrid shared her concerns about the government's inability

to keep its promises.

5) "Despite the government's pledges to the contrary,

growth in India had not been inclusive. Child malnutrition has barely improved

over the past two decades and caste politics still excluded millions of people from

real opportunity. While most children are now enrolled in schools, 65 percent drop

out and only 12 percent go to college. If you are in the bottom third,

life is universally worse than 20 years ago", she said.