Gender equality in the Middle East and North Africa is at its best in Tunisia and the country is currently ranked 117th out of 144 countries surveyed by the latest Global Gender Gap Index.
After ten years of progress, the gender gap is widening for the first time in almost a decade and the gap between men and women in the areas of health, education, politics and employment is further accentuated, according to the latest report on gender equality prepared by World Economic Forum.
Tunisia has improved slightly with a score of 0.651 from 0.629 ten years ago (the score of 1 representing total parity) and is currently ahead of other Arab states.
The United Arab Emirates ranked at 120th, Bahrain (126th), Algeria (127th) and Egypt (134th). Morocco is positioned in 136th place followed by Lebanon (137th) and Saudi Arabia (138th).
According to the report, the MENA region ranks lowest on the index with an average gender gap of 40 per cent.
The region is also home to four of the world’s five lowest-ranked countries in terms of political emancipation: Kuwait (129th), Lebanon (137th), Qatar (130th) and Yemen (144th).
Globally, Iceland ranks first for the ninth consecutive year in terms of gender equality, with an overall score of 0.878 and the UK comes in 15th place with the United States placed at 49th.
“Gender inequality deprives the world of a huge reservoir of untapped talent at a time when it is so crucial to address the daunting challenges and disruptive forces we face,” Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, explained.
According to the organisation it will take 100 years before the global gender gap is reabsorbed and 217 years to achieve perfect equality between men and women in the workplace.
Middle East Monitor
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