By Siri Lindstad
“Do the individual countries actually care where they end up on such a list? That depends very much on whether gender equality
is a prioritised political issue in that country. If gender equality is not on the political agenda, I think the ranking won't
make any major difference", says Marie Thynell. She is Research Fellow in Peace and Development Research at the University
of Gothenburg’s School of Global Studies.
For the fifth consecutive year, the World Economic Forum, an organisation based in Geneva, has composed the Global Gender Gap Index. It is a survey of the differences between the situations of men and women concerning economic opportunities, political participation, education and health. Each country is analysed according to its own conditions and resources, and the possible gender differences are weighted. In other words, it is not, for example, the level of education as such that is measured in the individual countries, but the difference between the educational level of men and women.
This year, as also last year, Iceland holds the first place, while Norway has taken over the second place from Finland, who this year must settle for being third. Sweden is found in position number four, while Denmark is number seven, after New Zealand and Ireland.
The Nordic countries top the list
An increasing number of female ministers, a female prime minister and an approximate gender balance in parliament are the central reasons for Iceland’s winning position. There is also a good gender balance in education and employment. But when looking at the payslips of men and women respectively, it is obvious that Iceland, too, has work to do in order to reach full gender balance.
Norway now takes second place, thanks to a small increase in employment among women; an increase large enough to push Finland down to third place, despite the Finns also scoring more points than before.
Sweden held the top position for the first two years after the index was compiled, but during the last three years, Iceland, Norway and Finland have scored more points and overtaken Sweden. Denmark, too, has fallen back since other countries have managed better in decreasing the gender differences in the various areas measured.
All in all, the Nordic countries, except for Denmark, succeed in filling over 80 per cent of the gender gap that the index is based upon.
Assessing the attitudes
Looking outside of the Nordic region, it might be surprising to find Lesotho in eighth place after Denmark. That small highland country is one of the world’s financially less developed countries, with very limited resources and it is strongly dependent on South Africa. But in Lesotho there is no difference between the education and health services of men and women. In addition, the country is number one as to gender similarity in salaries.
“It’s obvious that gender equality is taken seriously in Lesotho”, Marie Thynell notes.
She finds the report primarily suited for assessing the attitudes to gender equality around the world.
“For politicians, researchers and NGOs, indexes like this one can be a method for measuring social change, and thereby be an indicator of the political climate in individual countries. The report simply provides a survey of which countries emphasize work on gender equality. If, for example, an NGO wants to work with projects on gender equality, they can look up such a report and find out places where there is already some support to be had from the authorities."
