100 Women: Mid-East lags as gender gap 'narrows'



The gap between men and women has narrowed
slightly in the past year in most countries,
according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report.
Iceland, Finland and Norway top the list of 136
nations, based on political participation, economic
equality and rights like education and health.
The Middle East and North Africa were the only regions
not to improve in the past year, with Yemen at the
bottom.
The Philippines and Nicaragua both feature in the top
10.
The WEF has produced the report annually for the past
eight years.
The release of this year's edition comes as the BBC
rounds off a month-long focus on women and gender
around the world with a major event at Broadcasting
House in London.
One hundred women from all around the world are
gathering for a day of debate and discussion as the 100
Women season comes to an end.
Yemen's challenge
Iceland's position at the top of the WEF rankings was
the fifth year in a row the country has been named the
world's most equal.
Report founder and co-author Saadia Zahidi told the
BBC that since the WEF began compiling the index in
2006, 80% of countries had made progress.
"What's worrying though is that 20% of countries have
made no progress or are falling behind," she said.
She singled out the United Arab Emirates and Saudi
Arabia as countries that had invested in education and
health, but had not integrated women into the
economy.
Nadia al-Sakkaf, editor of the English-language Yemen
Times, in London for the 100 Women conference, told
the BBC that she had stopped counting the years her
country had languished at the bottom of the equality
list.
"It comes down to everyday life. We had three women
running for president in 2006. We have lots of women
in senior positions," she said.
"But our levels of maternal mortality are very high, and
35% of girls aged 6-14 years old are not in school."
Human capital
Saadia Zahidi of the WEF said that by contrast many
sub-Saharan countries had not invested in women, but
through necessity they played a major role in the
economy.
Nordic countries continued to lead the way because
they had a long history of investing in people, she said.
"They are small economies with small populations; they
recognise that talent matters, and that talent has to be
men and women.
Overall, the report, entitled Global Gender Gap Report
2013, found Iceland to be the most advanced country
in the world in terms of gender equality for the fifth
year running.
Iceland, Finland (second), Norway (third) and Sweden
(fourth) had all closed over 80% of the gender gap,
where 100% would represent full equality.
The highest-ranked Asian nation was the Philippines
(fifth), praised for its success in health, education and
economic participation.
Asia's major economies performed poorly, with China
in 69th place and Japan 105th.
Nicaragua in 10th place was the highest positioned
country in North and South America, and was praised
for a "strong performance" in terms of political
empowerment.
Among major world economies Germany ranked 14th
(down one), the UK held its position at 18, with Canada
at 20 and the United States 23rd.
On matters of health and survival, the report finds that
96% of the gap has now closed.
In terms of education, the global gender gap is 93%
closed, with 25 countries now judged to deliver equal
treatment to boys and girls at school.
It is a different picture on the core issue of economic
equality, where the gender gap has closed by 60%.
In developing and developed countries alike, women's
presence in economic leadership positions is limited.
And while women have made small gains in political
representation - 2% this year - only 21% of that global
gender gap has closed
Ms Zahidi said the idea of the report was not to remind
poor countries that they had fewer opportunities than
rich countries, but to give them a tool to improve the
situation.
"Women make up one half of the human capital
available to any economy and any company; if that
talent isn't integrated, that is going to be a loss for both
women and men," she said.

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