Bangladesh has fared well in removing gender-based disparities, moving up four places to 64 in the latest 145-country gender gap index of World Economic Forum.
The Global Gender Gap Report 2015, released yesterday, assesses the countries across four pillars: health, education, economic opportunities and political empowerment.
Bangladesh scored above average on educational attainment, health and survival parameters except economic participation and opportunity. Bangladesh is also the region’s second-most improved country on the overall Index.
The report said after a steady increase in score from 2006 to 2010, the country has regressed on sub-index of economic participation and opportunity since 2013.
But its educational attainment score continues to rise due to higher literacy rates and enrollment in tertiary education. On the health and survival sub-index, the country ranked first in the region and, since 2006, is the second most-improved country in the world.
Improvements have also been made on political empowerment with more years with a female head of state. Since 2006, it has been the second-most improved country of the region on this sub-index.
The countries that improved the most in health are Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Botswana.
Among South Asian countries, Sri Lanka was ranked at 84, India 108, Nepal 110, Maldives 113, Bhutan 118 and Pakistan 144.
The index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress.
While no country has entirely eliminated the gender gap, Iceland tops the index for the seventh consecutive year, boosted by high level of female political representation (41%), generous paternity leave policies and world-class opportunities for women to become business leaders.
Scandinavia dominates the top of the list, with Norway, Finland, Sweden and Ireland making the top five. Rwanda, the Philippines, Switzerland, Slovenia and New Zealand round out the top 10.
Globally, women are not likely to reach economic equality until 2133 and the gap between the economic opportunities available to men and women has narrowed by 3% in the last decade.
At that rate, women will not achieve financial parity for another 118 years.
“The current inequalities risk being exacerbated in the future,” warned Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.
“Increased levels of automation ushered in by the Fourth Industrial Revolution are likely to affect not only the economy but also humanity,” he said, explaining that technological disruption to business models and labour markets could kill jobs traditionally held by women.
“In this context, we need to create a world where women’s contributions and ideals are as valued as those of men. Gender parity in our thinking and actions will be critical in helping to ensure that the future is served by humanity and not threatened by it.”
