India ranked 112 on Global gender gap rankings

India continues to perform poorly in terms of its ability to provide equal opportunities for men and women, according to the latest report on gender inequality released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) today. The report ranked 134 countries on female economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment and Health and survival in relation to men. India was ranked 112 - a marginal improvement from last years position of 114. "It is definitely do-able for India to improve on its ranking", said Bina Agarwal, Professor of Economics at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University and expert on gender studies.



Agarwal pointed out that the indices used to rank countries were all interlinked. "India has a high rate of primary enrollment but female dropouts are very high at the secondary level. If we can improve on this, it will also lead to improvement in economic and political participation", she said. Iceland was ranked no 1 for the second year running, while Norway, Finland and Sweden were ranked at no. 2, 3 and 4 respectively. Philippines, ranked at 9 was the highest ranking Asian country while Lesotho at 8 was the highest ranking African country. Of India's neighbours, Pakistan was ranked at 132, Nepal at 115, Bangladesh at 82 and Sri Lanka at 20. Co-author of the report Saadia Zahidi said that the global gender gap in the areas of health and education was closing rapidly, but women's political and economic participation was still far from satisfactory.