Top 10 Countries Closing the Gender Gap

Iceland has topped the Global Gender Gap Index for the 11th year in a row, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gaps Report published last month. In 2020, the forum surveyed 153 countries. The highest possible score is 1 (total equality) and the lowest score is 0 (total inequality). Economic participation opportunity, educational attainment, health, survival, and political empowerment are factors taken into consideration in calculating the index.

Ethiopia ranked 82nd out of 153 with a score of 0.705 and is among the five most improved countries along with Spain, Mali, Albania, and Mexico. It has achieved full parity on its Health and Survival sub-index and has attained 16th position globally in terms of Political Empowerment, the report said.

Almost half (47.6Pct) of Ethiopia’s ministers are women, while the country’s first woman president was also elected in 2018. In addition, women account for 38.8Pct of parliament seats. In spite of these remarkable outcomes, women are still suffering from underdevelopment of health services. For instance, every year 400 mothers out of every 100,000 die giving birth, and only 27Pct of births are attended by skilled health personnel, the report concludes. EBR

9th Year • Mar.16 – Apr.15 2020 • No. 84