WEF: South Africa & Namibia leads Africa in closing gender gap
The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report, currently in its 18th year, serves as an annual benchmark for assessing gender equality. This year, it showed a slight increase of 0.1 percentage points, reaching 68.5 per cent. To delve further into the regional developments, CNBC Africa spoke to Silja Baller, Head of Mission for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the World Economic Forum.
Wed, 12 Jun 2024 15:30:00 GMT
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AI Generated Summary
- Progress has been made in education and health, with the report showing almost 100% closure of the gender gap in these areas. However, significant disparities persist in economic participation and political empowerment.
- Political empowerment has seen improvements globally, with a notable increase in the representation of women in parliaments. Nevertheless, challenges remain in achieving gender parity in leadership positions.
- The underrepresentation of women in industries of the future and STEM fields poses a barrier to closing the gender gap in economic participation. Efforts to address this gap and promote women's leadership in STEM are essential for creating a more inclusive and diverse workforce.
The 18th iteration of the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report has been released, with the index showing a slight increase of 0.1 percentage points, reaching 68.5 percent this year. To discuss the findings in further detail, CNBC Africa spoke with Silja Baller, the Head of Mission for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the World Economic Forum. Baller highlighted the progress made in some areas while underscoring the persistent challenges that remain in achieving gender parity. The report evaluates four dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, political empowerment, health and survival, and the educational gender gap. While strides have been made in education and health, significant gaps still exist in economic participation and political empowerment globally. In particular, the report points to the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions and industries of the future as key challenges. Despite some advancements in political participation, with a 10 percentage point increase in political empowerment over the last 18 years, there is still work to be done to increase women's presence in decision-making roles.
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