Phl unlikely to move up in Gender Gap Index

MANILA, Philippines -  The Philippines is seen maintaining its spot in the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Gender Gap Report this year, with the government acknowledging the need for better implementation of existing laws to propel the country’s position in the rankings.

In 2016, the country for the second consecutive year ranked as the world’s seventh most gender-equal society and remained the highest-ranked country in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We have stagnated in that spot. I think we really have to move forward,” Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya told The STAR.

Maglaya said for this year’s rankings, the Philippines would probably “be at the same level” as last year.

“It’s because we have sustained, but there has to be a really big initiative for us to really move a notch higher,” she said.

 “We need to get better implementation of existing laws. Also more of government and private sector partnership, strengthen that. That’s why we really have to find ways and identify what are the specific areas that we can improve on,” Maglaya added.

The WEF’s Global Gender Gap Report 2016 released in October last year showed the Philippines closing nearly 79 percent of its gender gap.

“Impressively, this year it has re-closed its educational gender gap which opened up again for the first time in 2015. It is also ranked first worldwide for having fully closed its health and survival gap, as well as for the number of professional and technical workers in our economic pillar,” the WEF report said.

The country, however, saw its gender gap widen among its legislators, senior officials, and managers.

The Global Gender Gap Index ranks countries worldwide based on the gap between women and men on health, education, economic and political indicators.

It aims to understand whether countries are distributing their resources and opportunities equitably between women and men, irrespective of their overall income levels.

Iceland was on top of the 2016 Gender Gap Index, followed by Finland, Norway, Sweden and Rwanda.

For Trade Undersecretary Nora Terrado, the country should be fine if it remains in the top 10 of this year’s report.

“There are so many variables that you cannot control. I think we should be happy that in ASEAN we are number one because it’s really hard to compete with the other countries,” Terrado said.

“Sustenance will be important. And we have to touch the poorest of the poor. At the end of the day, all these initiatives will have no significance  if you will not be able to help the poor. What’s the use of these ranking if you cannot transform it into real jobs, real endeavors?” she added.