Pakistan ranked 151st out of 153 countries in gender report.

Byline: Amin Ahmed

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan ranks as the third worst country in global rankings for gender equality, says a report published on Tuesday.

The Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) in its Global Gender Gap Report 2020 showed Pakistan is just ahead of Iraq and Yemen, a ranking of 151 out of 153 countries.

Now in its 14th year, the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 ranked 153 countries on their progress towards gender parity in four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment. In addition, the report examined gender gap prospects in the professions of the future.

The Country Score Card for Pakistan showed it ranks 150th in economic participation and opportunity, 143rd in educational attainment, 149th in health and survival and 93rd in political empowerment. A comparison of the score shows that Pakistan slipped from the position of 112 in 2006 to 151 in 2020.

Likewise, in economic participation and opportunity, the score was 112 in 2006 and slid to 150 in 2020. In educational attainment, the score was 110 in 2006 as compared to 143 in 2020, in health and survival it was 112 in 2006 and 149 in 2020, and in political empowerment the score was 37 in 2006 as against 93 in 2020.

The gap remains cavernous in the economic participation and opportunity dimension (32.7, 150th). The report says that economic opportunities for women are extremely limited in Pakistan (32.7 per cent). Only one-quarter of women participate in the labour force as compared to 85 per cent of men (148th). Only five per cent of senior and leadership roles are held by women (146th). It is estimated that only 18 per cent of Pakistan's labour income goes to women (148th), one of the lowest share among countries studied.

While a majority of countries have bridged or nearly bridged the educational gender gap, Pakistan's still stands at almost 20 per cent. Less than half of the women are literate, compared with 71 per cent of men, while the share of women enrolled is systematically lower than the share of men across primary, secondary and tertiary education.

The report says that in health and survival dimension, Pakistan with 94.6 per cent trails behind, which means that women have not yet been granted the same access to health as men.

The political gender gap has narrowed markedly over the past two years but remains wide (15.9, 93rd). In 2017, there was not a single female minister. As of Jan 1...