The World Economic Forum (WEF) was recently launched. Global Gender Gap Report 2023 Pakistan ranked 5th, the worst performer, and 142nd out of 146 countries, despite progress in some areas such as literacy rate and secondary and tertiary enrollment rates. .
The Global Gender Gap Index annually benchmarks the status and evolution of gender equality across four key dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. It is the oldest index since its creation in 2006 to track progress in many countries’ efforts to close these gaps over time.
Key findings include index results for 2023, trend analysis of trajectory towards parity, and data details through new index partnerships and contextual data.
Pakistan ranks 142nd out of 146 countries with a parity rate believed to be 57.5%, the highest since 2006. The Economic Participation and Opportunity sub-index has improved by 5.1 percentage points over the past decade, and the parity rate has reached 36.2%. This level of equivalence remains among the lowest globally.
“While there is broad progress across all indicators in this sub-indicator, it is particularly noticeable in the proportion of female skilled workers and in achieving pay parity in similar jobs. Enrollment parity in secondary and tertiary education is gradually improving, leading to parity of 82.5 per cent in the educational attainment sub-index,” the report said.
“Regarding health and survival, Pakistan has ensured gender equality at birth, boosting the sub-index equality by 1.7 percentage points from 2022 onwards. is political empowerment (15.2 percent).” 4.7 of the last 50 years have had a female head of state, and one-tenth of ministers and one-fifth of parliamentarians are women. ‘ added.
Globally, there has been a significant setback in gender equality in recent years, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and girls in education and the workforce, and the ensuing economic and geopolitical crises, has made the past progress was impeded. While some parts of the world are now experiencing partial recovery, others are seeing deterioration due to the emergence of new crises. The global gender gap in health and education has narrowed over the past year. However, progress in political empowerment has effectively stalled, and women’s economic participation is declining rather than recovering.
Recent years have been characterized by a significant setback in global gender equality. interrupted by an academic crisis. While some parts of the world are now experiencing partial recovery, others are seeing deterioration due to the emergence of new crises.
Since 2006, examining a subset of the 102 countries included in each edition of the index provides a large, constant sample for time series analysis. The Global Gender Gap Index measures scores on a scale of 0-100, and scores can be interpreted as the distance covered towards equality (in short percentage of gender gap closed). Cross-country comparisons help identify the most effective policies to close the gender gap.
According to UN-Women, Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world with a population of approximately 227 million (49.2% female, 50.8% male). Gender inequality is a major concern in Pakistan.
In 2022, Pakistan ranked 145/156 in terms of economic participation and opportunities. Educational background is 135/156. 143/156 for health and survival. 95/156 for political empowerment. Additionally, Pakistan ranks 130th out of 139 countries in the Global Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index.
UN-Women believes that Pakistan has taken progressive steps to protect human rights by ratifying most international human rights instruments and introducing pro-women legislation. However, although laws for women’s empowerment and protection from violence are in place at the national and local levels, enforcement remains weak.
According to the 5th CEDAW Periodic Review for Pakistan, one of the biggest challenges facing is the lack of consistent data on violence against women to support the development of appropriate policy responses. This has led to ineffective and weak policy reforms.
Economically, women make up only 22.63% of the labor force. On average, Pakistani women earn 16.3% of her men’s earnings.
Pakistan Vision 2025 is aligned with Pakistan’s United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023-2027, which prioritizes basic rights and gender equality as central tenets of the country’s development agenda, and promotes gender equality. It focuses on the need for sensitive planning. Involvement of vulnerable and marginalized groups, increasing reports of violence against women and related incidents. In its first National Security Policy (2022-2026), the government has recognized “gender security” as a key pillar and “strengthens the national security narrative through the full and meaningful participation of women in decision-making and law enforcement.” It aims to ensure the integration of gender equality into the ‘, the judiciary, and the peacekeeping operations. ”
UN-Women observes that Pakistani communities, especially women, are becoming more vulnerable to displacement due to disasters. Gender-sensitive recovery and relief policies must become part of the public debate.
In Pakistan, migration due to climate change is becoming a reality. Pakistan alone is expected to have about 2 million climate change migrants by 2050, not including those displaced by sudden onset of climate disasters such as floods and cyclones.
At a recent national conference, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan declared strong gender-neutral labor to be the cornerstone of any true democratic movement. The resolution put forward at the conference stated that all forms of work must be respected as dignified work and that labor relations and the right to collective bargaining should be free of barriers regarding religion, caste, gender and ethnicity. It is stated.
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