We would have to wait another 134 years for gender equality

Despite the progress made, gender equality still does not exist in any country in the world.This is demonstrated by data from the World Economic Forum.

• We are still 134 years, or five generations, away from achieving full gender equality around the world.
• According to the World Economic Forum's gender gap index, the country that comes closest to equality between men and women is Iceland.
• The weakest dimension is participation in political life, but the more than 70 national elections scheduled for 2024 could change things.

There gender equality Still it doesn't exist, in any country in the world.There has been some objective progress, but it is still too slow.So much so that they will have to follow one another five generations to be able to live in a world where men and women will have the same rights, the same treatment, the same responsibilities and opportunities in society and at work.The 2024 edition of Global gender gap report written by World economic forum, in fact, estimates that on a global level, based on current data, full gender equality can only be achieved in 134 years.And say that, by subscribing the 2030 Agenda, the member countries of the United Nations had promised to achieve it already by the end of this decade.

What does the Global gender gap index consist of?

The Global gender gap report was first published in 2006 and is therefore the longest-running study on gender equality in the world.This eighteenth edition, published as always by the World economic forum, takes an analysis 146 countries;101 of them were included from the beginning and therefore offer a reliable insight into the progress made over time.

Each country is evaluated on four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.From a summary of the various scores, a is calculated for each country index ranging from 0 (total inequality) to 1 (full gender equality).The gender gap index can therefore also be expressed as a percentage, where 100 percent means that these disparities have been completely eliminated.

Which countries are closest to gender equality

On average, the 146 countries considered have closed its gender gap at 68.5 percent, a figure that improves slightly compared to the previous edition.It must be said, however, that practically all the countries examined, with the exception of Iran, Chad, Pakistan and Sudan, exceed 60 percent;in 2006, when this survey began, only 85 percent of countries exceeded this threshold.However, a state like is missing from the study Afghanistan, Where the female condition has experienced a collapse since i Taliban have regained power.

The state that comes closest to full gender equality is Iceland, firmly at the top of the ranking with an overall score of 93.5 percent.Furthermore, it is the only country to exceed 90 percent.The top 10 is dominated byEurope – Finland And Norway at 87.5 percent, Sweden at 81.6 percent, Germany at 81 percent, Ireland at 80.2 percent, Spain at 79.7 percent – ​​with the exception of New Zealand (fourth with 83.5 percent), del Nicaragua (sixth with 81.1 percent) and of Namibia (eighth with 80.5 percent). Italy it is in the second half of the ranking, with 70 percent which places it in 87th position.

The @wef's Global #GenderGap24 report is now live.It shows only a slight improvement in the global gap, with parity still five generations away at current rates of progress.

However, in a historical election year, improving the #political participation of #women could have a… pic.twitter.com/HPLRKNVFg1

— World Economic Forum (@wef) June 11, 2024

Women's political participation is the real weak point

However, looking in more detail at the four dimensions monitored, we discover that in terms of health and education gender equality is one step away.Lowering the average is the participation in the economy, where the gender gap closed only in 60.5 percent and “the economic prospects of women and girls are threatened by continuing recessions and protracted crises,” it says.There are more and more women who have a job, albeit with strong differences from state to state, but their presence becomes increasingly sporadic as one moves up towards roles of greater responsibility (and therefore better paid).Compared to 2006, however, gender equality in the economic and workplace has leapt forward by 4.2 percentage points for the 101 countries included in the analysis since the beginning.

The real weak point, however, is political empowerment.In fact, it is true that it marked the most significant progress in the 101 countries monitored from 2006 onwards, gaining 8.3 percentage points.Despite this, however, today the gender gap in this area has only closed 22.5 percent in the entire sample.However, 2024 could mix up the cards, because it is the biggest election year ever, with over sixty national elections.If they choose to also be represented by women, citizens will be able to add their precious brick to build greater equity.