Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 18)— The Philippines suffered a slight dip in the global rankings for gender equality, according to a report released Tuesday.
The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest Global Gender Gap report ranked the Philippines 16th out of 153 countries with the narrowest gap between men and women after it tallied a score of 0.781. This means the country closed at 78 percent of its overall gender gap.
The number is down from the country’s record-high 0.799 last year, when it finished eighth in the global rankings. The Philippines has consistently been in the top 10 of the gender equality rankings since the WEF first launched its annual study in 2006.
The Switzerland-based organization analyzes the gender gaps based on four key areas— economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
‘Lower female representation in Cabinet’
The report said the Philippines remained strong in three indices, as it closed gaps in the economic, education, and health sectors.
The WEF listed the Philippines as one of the few countries where women outnumbered men in senior and leadership roles— as well as in top professional and technical posts.
Filipinas can also “expect to live in good health five years longer than men,” the report said.
It added more women are enrolled in secondary education (71 percent versus 60 percent) and in tertiary education (57 percent versuss 43 percent), with literary rates soaring to 98 percent for both sexes.
The ranking drop, however, was attributed to the wider gap in the political empowerment index.
According to the WEF, female representation in the Philippines’ political arena— particularly in the Congress and President Rodrigo Duterte’s cabinet— significantly declined from 2017 to 2019.
“This downgrade is almost entirely attributable to lower female representation in the cabinet, which declined from 25% to 10% between 2017 and 2019. Female representation in the parliament was also slightly down and stood at 28% at the beginning of 2019,” the report read.
Still the top gender-equal country in Asia
Despite the slip, the Philippines remained the most gender-equal country in Asia. The next Asian country on the list is Laos, which ranked far behind at 43rd.
Iceland and Norway meanwhile retained their rankings as the top two countries in terms of gender equality after tallying scores of 0.877 and 0.842, respectively. Finland, Sweden, and Nicaragua finished at third, fourth, and fifth respectively.
Other countries listed in the top 10 include New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, Rwanda, and Germany.
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