DHAKA: Bangladesh has been top-ranked country in gender equity in South Asia, having closed its overall gender gap just under 70 per cent. Bangladesh has ranked 72 among 144 nations in the world in the Global Gender Gap Index 2016, published by World Economic Forum on Tuesday. India, which stands 87 in the index, follows Bangladesh having closed just under 68 per cent of their overall gender gap.
According to the index, in South Asia, the lowest-ranked countries are Bhutan and Pakistan, having closed 64 per cent and 56 per cent of their overall gender gap, respectively. Bangladesh has become the region’s top performer, recording progress this year on the political empowerment gender gap, reports UNB news agency.
However, there is a widening of the gap on women’s labour force participation and estimated earned income. However, it also sees some regression on women’s estimated earned income and continues to rank third-lowest in the world on Health and Survival, remaining the world’s least-improved country on this sub-index over the past decade.
With an average remaining gender gap of 33per cent, the South Asia region is the second-lowest scoring on this year’s Global Gender Gap Index, ahead of the Middle East and North Africa and behind the Sub-Saharan Africa region. No country in the region has fully closed its Educational Attainment gender gap, and only one country, Sri Lanka, has fully closed its Health and Survival gender gap. However, the region is also home to one of the top five climbers over the past decade on the overall Index and on Educational Attainment.
