GLOBAL GENDER GAP REPORT 2020

The annual Global Gender Gap Index for 2020 has been published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Highlights:

– Iceland, Norway, and Finland occupy the top three spots in the Report.

– Yemen is ranked the worst (153rd), while Iraq is 152nd and Pakistan 151st.

– India is ranked 112th among 153 countries.India has moved down the ladder from its 108th position last year to rank below countries like China (106th), Sri Lanka (102nd), Nepal (101st), Brazil (92nd), Indonesia (85th) and Bangladesh (50th).

– India is among countries with very low women representation on company boards (13.8 per cent), while it was even worse in China (9.7 per cent).

–  Globally, the average (population-weighted) distance completed to gender parity is at 68.6%, which is an improvement since last edition.

–  The largest gender disparity is in political empowerment. Only 25% of the seats in parliaments around the world are occupied by women, and only 21% of the ministers are women.

–  The overall global gender gap will close in 99.5 years, on average, across the 107 countries covered continuously since the first edition of the Report.

–  Methodology – The Report benchmarks countries on their progress towards gender parity in four dimensions: (1) Economic Participation and Opportunity, (2) Educational Attainment, (3) Health and Survival and (4) Political Empowerment.