The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently published its Global Gender Gap Index for 2022, ranking India 135 out of 146 countries. The gender gap reflects disparities between men and women in societal, political, intellectual, cultural, and economic accomplishments or perspectives. Despite a slight improvement from the previous year, there remains considerable scope for betterment in India’s effort to ensure gender parity.
Understanding the Global Gender Gap Index
The Global Gender Gap Index is a benchmarking tool that measures a country’s progress towards attaining gender parity. It assesses four key dimensions with sub matrices: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. The index provides scores ranging from 0 to 1 for each of the four dimensions and the overall index, where 1 signifies complete gender parity and 0 indicates absolute disparity. Since its inception in 2006, the index has been serving as a measure to track progress in reducing gender gaps.
India’s Performance on Four Key Dimensions
On Political Empowerment, India ranks relatively better at 48th position out of 146 despite a low score of 0.267. In contrast, for Economic Participation and Opportunity, India ranks significantly lower at 143 out of 146 countries, though it has shown some improvement from the previous year. Educational Attainment also remains an area of concern with India securing the 107th rank. Even more alarming is the country’s position regarding Health and Survival, where it ranks last among all assessed countries.
Indian Initiatives to Bridge the Gender Gap
Despite the existing challenges, several Indian initiatives aim to reduce gender disparity in social, economic, and political life. These include ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ for girl child protection and education, ‘Mahila Shakti Kendra’ for skill development and employment opportunities for rural women, and ‘Mahila Police Volunteers’ to aid women in distress. The ‘Rashtriya Mahila Kosh’ offers micro-credit to poor women for income-generating activities, while ‘Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna’ empowers girls economically through bank accounts. The Government has also initiated programs like Stand-Up India and Mahila e-Haat to promote female entrepreneurship. Moreover, a 33% reservation in Panchayati Raj Institutions aims to boost women’s political representation.
Global Findings of the Gender Gap Index 2022
Globally, Iceland retained its position as the most gender-equal country, with Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden filling the subsequent slots. Afghanistan ranks lowest on the index. At the current pace, it would take almost 132 years to reach full gender parity worldwide. South Asia, unfortunately, may take even longer – estimated at nearly 197 years. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated this situation, primarily affecting women working in sectors like retail and hospitality.
About the World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is an international organization fostering public-private cooperation. Since its establishment in 1971, it has been publishing various reports such as Energy Transition Index, Global Competitiveness Report, Global IT Report, Global Gender Gap Report, Global Risk Report, and Global Travel and Tourism Report, providing valuable insights into different aspects of global socio-economic conditions.