📷 Image Credits: The Hindu
India’s position on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index has slipped to 129th place according to the latest rankings published on June 12. The country was ranked fifth within South Asia, following Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan, with Pakistan at the bottom of the regional list. Globally, India’s ranking declined two spots, with Sudan holding the last position out of 146 countries and Pakistan dropping to 145th place. The report highlighted that India, along with Bangladesh, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, and Morocco, exhibited some of the lowest levels of economic parity, all scoring less than 30% gender parity in earned income estimates. Despite this, India performed well in gender parity for secondary education enrollment and political empowerment, ranking 65th globally. Additionally, India ranked 10th in terms of the number of years with female/male heads of state over the past 50 years. The WEF mentioned that although India’s economic participation and opportunity scores have slightly improved, declines in educational attainment and political empowerment led to its drop in the index. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, India has closed 64.1% of its gender gap in 2024. However, the WEF noted that globally, it will take another 134 years to achieve full gender parity at the current rate of progress. The top position on the index was retained by Iceland, followed by Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden in the top five. The United Kingdom secured 14th place, while the United States ranked 43rd according to the report. WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi emphasized the critical need for renewed global commitment to achieving gender parity in economic and political spheres, urging decisive action to accelerate progress and not wait until 2158 for gender parity.
