Pakistan slips two spots on Global Gender Gap Index, becomes fourth worst country in the world

Pakistan has slipped two spots in the ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2021’ published by the World Economic Forum and now ranks as the fourth worst country in the world. The report found that Pakistan’s gender gap had widened by 0.7 percentage points, to 55.6 per cent, making it one of the worst countries for gender parity. Only Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan fared worse.

The scorecard for the country places Pakistan at 152 in economic participation and opportunity, 144 in educational attainment, 153 in health and survival, and 98 in political empowerment.

In the South Asian region, Pakistan ranked seventh among eight countries, Afghanistan being the lowest. In its overall observation, the report commented that “progress has stagnated”, observing that the estimated time to close the gender gap has now increased to 136.5 years.

It also pointed out that the Covid-19 pandemic may have widened the existing disparities.

Source: Dawn