Sub-Saharan Africa might need nearly a century to achieve gender parity: Global Gender Gap Report

Women in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have to wait another 102 years to achieve gender parity with men, according to the annual Global Gender Gap Report, 2023. This assessment means that gender equality in the region may not be fully realised until 2125.

However, SSA has been ranked above Southern Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. SSA, which was ranked sixth among the eight geographic regions, recorded a gender parity of 68.2 per cent, according to the document released by the World Economic Forum on June 21, 2023.

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Some 17 of the region’s 36 countries marked progress of 0.5 percentage points or more. However, progress across the region has been marginal, with a meagre improvement of 0.1 percentage point.

Nearly 17 countries have seen a decline of 0.5 percentage points or more since the report’s 2022 edition. Though ranked eighth among 146 countries, Namibia, too, witnessed a 0.5 percentage point decline.

Rwanda, which scored 79.4 per cent in gender parity, slipped by six points to 12 on the global scale. The country that ranked top among African nations could not make it to the top 10.

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Namibia, Rwanda and South Africa, along with 13 other countries, including Mozambique, Burundi and Cabo Verde, have closed more than 70 per cent of the overall gender gap. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali and Chad are the worst-performing countries, with scores below 62 per cent.

The report analysed the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions: Economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.

When it comes to Health and Survival, SSA has the third-highest parity score of 97.2 per cent after Latin America and the Caribbean and Eurasia and Central Asia.  Some 25 countries, including Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi and Namibia, have more than 97 per cent parity between men and women. 

SSA is the lowest-ranked region in terms of educational attainment; just three countries — Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia — have achieved full parity. Niger, Liberia and Mali are the lowest-performing countries on this sub-index. However, all countries in the region have attained parity in sex ratio at birth, and 11 of 36 countries in healthy life expectancy, according to the ranking.

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