DUSHANBE, October 28, 2009, Asia-Plus — The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2009 ranks Tajikistan 87th out of 134 economies.
According to the report, Tajikistan gains two places in the rankings improving its scores on the labor force participation subindex. There is also a smaller perceived wage gap for similar work, according to the Executive Opinion Survey.
The four Nordic countries that have consistently held the highest positions in previous editions of the Global Gender Gap Index continue to flourish, but the top rankings have been reallocated. Iceland (1) has claimed the top spot from Norway (3) which slipped to 3rd position behind Finland (2).
Kyrgyzstan is ranked 41st, occupying the highest rank among Central Asia’s states, followed by Kazakhstan (47) Uzbekistan (58).
Russia (51) loses 9 places in the rankings as compared to 2008 due to decreasing labor force participation of women and a perceived widening of the wage gap, although the overall ranking of the Russian Federation on the economic participation and opportunity category remains relatively strong at 24th position. However, in terms of political empowerment, the Russian Federation is far below average, holding the 99th position in the rankings for this subindex.
The Global Gender Gap Report was first published in 2005. The 2009 report covers 134 major and emerging economies.
The Report’s Gender Gap Index ranks economies according to their gender gaps and their scores can be interpreted as the percentage of the gap between women and men that has been closed. The three highest ranking countries have closed a little over 80% of their gender gaps, while the lowest ranking country has closed only a little over 45% of its gender gap. It 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
. By providing a comprehensible framework for assessing and comparing global gender gaps and by revealing those countries that are role models in dividing these resources equitably between women and men, the Report serves as a catalyst for greater awareness as well as greater exchange between policymakers.
The Report examines four critical areas of inequality between men and women in 130 economies around the globe, over 92% of the world’s population: 1) economic participation and opportunity – outcomes on salaries, participation levels and access to high-skilled employment; 2) educational attainment – outcomes on access to basic and higher level education; 3) political empowerment – outcomes on representation in decision-making structures; and 4) health and survival – outcomes on life expectancy and sex ratio.
