Gender disparity will take 131 more years to be eliminated: WEF Report

The never-ending debate around gender parity and discrimination now literally seems everlasting, as World Economic Forum (WEF) research states that it might take another 131 years for women to come at par with men in terms of equality.

The overall gender gap across various fields like economy, politics, health and education closed by just 0.3% as compared to last year, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2023 released by WEF. Although overall parity has improved by 4.1 percent according to WEF in that was launched in 2006.

Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director at the WEF, said, “The tepid progress in closing those gaps and indications of parity slipping in areas such as the economy create an “urgent case for renewed and concerted action.”
Zahidi added, “Recent years have been marked by major setbacks for gender parity globally, with previous progress disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on women and girls in education and the workforce, followed by economic and geopolitical crises. Today, some parts of the world are seeing partial recoveries while others are experiencing deteriorations as new crises unfold.”

The WEF’s Gender Gap Index considered data from 146 countries across four categories, economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.
And it was found that only nine countries, Iceland, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, Nicaragua, Namibia and Lithuania have been able to close 80% of their gap. And Iceland is the most gender-equal country being able to close 91.2% of its gap. The United States is 43rd, with a parity score of 74.8%.

According to the report, “The recovery from the shock and ensuing polycrisis has been slow and, so far, incomplete, and the current context, coupled with technological and climate change, risks causing further regression in women’s economic empowerment. Not only are millions of women and girls losing out on economic access and opportunity, but these reversals also have wide-ranging consequences for the global economy.”

Also watch: UNDP 2023 Gender Social Norms Index: Gender bias against women still prevalent among 9 out of 10 people