Namibia is closing the gender gap
Namibia has made a massive improvement in gender equality since 2006, according to a new report.
Namibia has continued its streak of scoring a top-20 ranking on a global gender gap index, coming in at 13th place out of 144 countries.
This is the third year in the row that Namibia has maintained its place in the global top-20, previously being ranked 14th in 2016 and 16th in 2015. This is a massive improvement considering in 2006 Namibia achieved a ranking of 38 on the index. Namibia was also ranked second in the sub-Saharan African region with only Rwanda that obtained a better score.
According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report Namibia's score also makes it one of the few countries that have been able to close 80% of the gender gap when it comes to economic participation and opportunity between men and women. The report quantifies the magnitude of gender disparities and tracks their progress over time, with a specific focus on the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics.
“Namibia (13) overtakes Burundi (22) to place second in the region, due to its progress on women's share of estimated earned income and political empowerment, as well as the latter's significant widening of the gender gap on educational attainment and women in ministerial positions,” says the report. Overall, Namibia ranked ninth in the economic participation and opportunity category, 41st in the overall educational attainment category and 26th in the political empowerment category. Namibia's ranking in the wage equality for similar work achieved ranked the lowest score overall for the country this year, at 64th place, while labour force participation also did not rank that well at 38th. Data shows that unemployment is higher among women than among men. The overall unemployment rate in Namibia was 28% in 2014 and 36% in 2016 (reflecting persons of working age who were not in paid employment or self-employment despite being available for work).
The female unemployment rate was 31.7% in 2014, rising to 38.3% in 2016 (a difference over time of 6.6%), while the male unemployment rate was 24.1% in 2014, rising to 29.8% in 2016 (a difference over time of 5.6%); the gender gap in unemployment rates in 2016 was 8.5%. Looking at the figures from a positive angle, 62% of women in the female labour force were employed in 2016, compared to 70% of men in the male labour force, for a difference in respective employment rates of about 8%.
The report indicates that Namibia has improved in both its literacy rate ranking and women in ministerial positions. In 2016 Namibia was ranked 61st for literacy and 56th for women in ministerial positions, this has improved to 58th and 44th respectively.
Top rankings were achieved in the gender gap measure of women participation in the economy as legislators, senior officials and managers, where Namibia ranked 13th, and women in parliament, where the country achieved the 11th spot.
In the education and health and survival sub-indexes, Namibia's rankings for enrolment in primary, secondary and tertiary education, sex ratio at birth, as well as healthy life expectancy received a number a one ranking. The top-ranked countries globally were Iceland, Norway, Finland, Rwanda and Sweden.
ELLANIE SMIT
This is the third year in the row that Namibia has maintained its place in the global top-20, previously being ranked 14th in 2016 and 16th in 2015. This is a massive improvement considering in 2006 Namibia achieved a ranking of 38 on the index. Namibia was also ranked second in the sub-Saharan African region with only Rwanda that obtained a better score.
According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report Namibia's score also makes it one of the few countries that have been able to close 80% of the gender gap when it comes to economic participation and opportunity between men and women. The report quantifies the magnitude of gender disparities and tracks their progress over time, with a specific focus on the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics.
“Namibia (13) overtakes Burundi (22) to place second in the region, due to its progress on women's share of estimated earned income and political empowerment, as well as the latter's significant widening of the gender gap on educational attainment and women in ministerial positions,” says the report. Overall, Namibia ranked ninth in the economic participation and opportunity category, 41st in the overall educational attainment category and 26th in the political empowerment category. Namibia's ranking in the wage equality for similar work achieved ranked the lowest score overall for the country this year, at 64th place, while labour force participation also did not rank that well at 38th. Data shows that unemployment is higher among women than among men. The overall unemployment rate in Namibia was 28% in 2014 and 36% in 2016 (reflecting persons of working age who were not in paid employment or self-employment despite being available for work).
The female unemployment rate was 31.7% in 2014, rising to 38.3% in 2016 (a difference over time of 6.6%), while the male unemployment rate was 24.1% in 2014, rising to 29.8% in 2016 (a difference over time of 5.6%); the gender gap in unemployment rates in 2016 was 8.5%. Looking at the figures from a positive angle, 62% of women in the female labour force were employed in 2016, compared to 70% of men in the male labour force, for a difference in respective employment rates of about 8%.
The report indicates that Namibia has improved in both its literacy rate ranking and women in ministerial positions. In 2016 Namibia was ranked 61st for literacy and 56th for women in ministerial positions, this has improved to 58th and 44th respectively.
Top rankings were achieved in the gender gap measure of women participation in the economy as legislators, senior officials and managers, where Namibia ranked 13th, and women in parliament, where the country achieved the 11th spot.
In the education and health and survival sub-indexes, Namibia's rankings for enrolment in primary, secondary and tertiary education, sex ratio at birth, as well as healthy life expectancy received a number a one ranking. The top-ranked countries globally were Iceland, Norway, Finland, Rwanda and Sweden.
ELLANIE SMIT
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