ISLAMABAD: The World Economic Forum placed Pakistan as the second worst country on gender equality in its Global Gender Gap index released on Thursday.
The index placed Pakistan 143rd out of 144 countries, worst in the South Asian region that has an average remaining gender gap of 34% as noted by the index. Bangladesh, ranked at 47, is the only country in the region to have made the top 50 whereas India is at 108 after dropping 21 notches compared to its previous position. Maldives ranked 106, Sri Lanka 109, Nepal 111 and Bhuttan 143.
The top 10 performing countries are Iceland – having closed nearly 88% of its gap, it has been the world’s most gender-equal country for nine years – Norway, Finland, Rwanda, Sweden, Nicaragua, Slovenia, Ireland, New Zealand and the Philippines.
Pakistan scored 0.546 on a scale where 1.0 score represents parity and 0 as imparity. The country’s female/male population sex ratio is recorded at 1.06. The index notes country’s widening the gender gap over the decade as it ranked 112 out 115 in the year 2006. In the 2017 index, Pakistan only beats Yemen and the war-torn Syria ranks ahead of Pakistan.