-ties for 1st place in health
Males and females are more `equal’ in Guyana than in many other countries with Guyana ranking 35 out of 134 countries in a World Economic Forum (WEF) gender equality report.
Pulling down this performance, however, was a poor rating in economic participation and opportunity, where Guyana ranked a lowly 86 though in health and survival, Guyana was at number one- the same as 38 other nations.
Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden top the list while in the Caribbean; countries ranked higher than Guyana are Trinidad and Tobago -19, Barbados -21, Bahamas- 28 and Cuba- 29. The lowest ranked country is Yemen at 134. Suriname is ranked at 79.
The report, released yesterday, ranked countries according to how much they reduce gender disparities based on economic participation, education, health and political empowerment while attempting to strip out the effects of a nation’s overall wealth. Guyana has not been ranked in the Global Gender Gap Index for the past three years. The report is released annually.
The report says that twenty countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region have fully closed their gender gaps in the heath and survival sub-index and seven countries have fully closed gaps in educational attainment.
The remaining gaps are thus concentrated in the economic participation and political empowerment sub-indexes, it said.
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.
Of the 134 countries, Guyana is ranked 86 in economic participation and opportunity with more males participating in the workforce than females. On educational attainment, Guyana ranks 41 with a rank of 54 on literacy rates. Guyana has achieved equality in literacy rates the report shows, while females outnumber males in enrolment in tertiary education. Among many other countries, Guyana ranks at 1 in health and survival and is ranked 28 in political empowerment.
The report notes that the female adult unemployment rate is 15.27% while for male adults the unemployment rate is 10.28%.
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, a press release said.
“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.
The WEF statement said that the Forum continues to expand geographic coverage in the report.
This year’s report provides insight into the gaps between women and men in over 93% of the world’s population, it noted.
The WEF is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the WEF is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests, the statement said.
