Pakistan's 'fall from grace' in Global Gender Gap Index; ranks 145th among 146 nations

Pakistan has hit the bottom of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index, second only to Sudan. As per the 2024 Global Gender Gap Index released last month, Pakistan ranks 145 on a list of 146 nations.

Falling rank

In the latest Global Gender Gap Index, Pakistan has fallen from the 142nd rank last year to 145th this year, indicating a worsening situation for women.

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Women's rights activists in Pakistan, as reported by Dawn, have called for a renewed commitment from both the state and society to address gender disparity and redefine the societal roles assigned to women.

"It's not the issue of this year only. Pakistan’s position has been dismal since I have been seeing this index for the last 15, 16 years. Our country has been having almost the same position with a little difference," said Bushra Khaliq, the executive director of the Women in Struggle for Empowerment (WISE).

She noted some improvement in political representation because of reserved quotas for women but said, "These women mostly come from the high-profile political families or big cities".

WEF's Global Gender Gap Index

Every year, the WEF index evaluates gender parity across four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

Pakistan, as per the report, has performed worse than its neighbours India and Bangladesh. Overall, Bangladesh ranks 99th, and India ranks 129th.

Pakistan's performance dimension-wisecompared to its neighbours:

- Economic participation and opportunity: Pakistan is ranked 143rd, while India and Bangladesh are slightly better at 142nd and 146th, respectively.

- Educational attainment: Pakistan stands at 139th, with India at 112th and Bangladesh at 125th.

- Health and survival: Faring better than India but worse than Bangladesh, Pakistan is at 132nd. Meanwhile, India is at 142nd and Bangladesh at 129th.

- Political empowerment: Pakistan ranks 112th, with India at 65th and Bangladesh at 7th.

"Compared to 2023, the economy loses three ranks and 0.53 percentage points on its overall score, largely driven by regressions in the Political Empowerment dimension, yet partially offset by a small score improvement in Educational Attainment," says the WEF report.

"The low performance reflects substantive gender gaps in economic and political parity, as well as a lag in both the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival subindexes, where most economies are at parity," it adds".

(With inputs from agencies)