Pakistan amongst the worst performers in Global Gender Gap Report 2020

• This performance represents an improvement from the previous edition (55.0), but it is insufficient to prevent Pakistan from falling in the rankings, states the report.
• Only one-quarter of women participate in the labour force in Pakistan compared with 85 percent of men.

Pakistan has been named among the worst performers in the newly released Global Gender Gap Report 2020 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), having closed only 56pc of the gender gap. The country ranks third-to-last (151st), only surpassing Iraq and Yemen.

“This performance represents an improvement from the previous edition (55.0), but it is insufficient to prevent Pakistan from falling in the rankings, as new countries have entered the rankings at a higher position,” the report reads.

As per the WEF's report, Pakistan was placed at 150th spot in economic participation and opportunity, it grabbed the 143rd spot in educational attainment, 149th place in health and survival and claimed 93rd spot in political empowerment. “Encouragingly, however, Pakistan improves on a majority of them—sometimes markedly and is stable in the others. The gap remains cavernous in terms of economic participation and opportunities (32.7, 150th).”

The report stated that only one-quarter of women participate in the labour force in Pakistan compared with 85 percent of men (148th). Whereas, women only occupy 5pc of senior and leadership roles in the country (146th), twice the rate of 2016.

The report further estimated that only 18pc of Pakistan’s labour income goes to women (148th), one of the lowest share among countries studied.

The matters are bleak even in the education department, as Pakistan failed to bridge the educational gender gap, Pakistan’s still stands at almost 20pc. Less than half of women are literate, compared with 71pc of men, while the share of women enrolled is systematically lower than the share of men across primary, secondary and tertiary education.

However, 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 1 January 2019, there were three women in the 25-member cabinet.