MikeLigalig.com

HAVING had two women as president may have been one factor. Having millions more working as overseas workers definitely is.

The Philippines ranked sixth among 128 countries in the race for gender equality, according the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2007 released last week.
In placing sixth for the second year in a row, the Philippines was able to outpace its competitors including the U.S. and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Ahead of the Philippines in this year's global gender gap index are Sweden at number one, followed by Norway , Finland , Iceland and New Zealand . Rounding out the top ten are Germany , Denmark, Ireland and Spain. The Philippines is, therefore, the first Asian country to enter the list, with Sri Lanka at 15th spot as the only other Asian nation in the top 20.
“We are expectant that this report serves as a catalyst for greater awareness as well as greater exchange between policy makers,” said Saadia Zahidi, head of the WEF’s women leaders program.
According to Ricardo Hausmann, director of the Center for International Development at Harvard University, and one of the authors of the report, the index assesses countries’ ability to divide their resources and opportunities among the male and female segments of their population. This is regardless of the overall levels of these resources and opportunities.

"The index does not penalize those countries that have low levels of education overall, but rather those where the distribution of education is uneven between women and men," Hausman said.
The report measures the size of the gender gap in four critical areas of inequality between men and women, namely:

* economic participation and opportunity; * educational attainment; * political empowerment; and, * health and survival

The report – which covered over 90 percent of the world’s population – said that while no country has achieved full gender equality, Sweden , Norway and Finland have closed over 80 percent of the gender gap and serve as a useful benchmark for global comparisons.

The Philippines is the only Asian country to have closed the gender gap on education as well as health, and is one of only six nations to have done so. Also, the country's scores on political empowerment improved even more, as did some of its economic indicators such as estimated income, labor force participation and income equality for similar work.

A slight majority of the more than eight million overseas Filipino workers who remit about $12 billion annually are women.

The Philippines placed first in educational attainment and health and survival, second in economic participation and 14th in political empowerment for a total score of 76.29 points, just 5.17 points off Sweden 's score of 81.46.

The Philippines ranked highest in the education category, where majority of teachers at all levels are female. Women account for 87 percent of elementary, 76 percent of high school, and 56 percent of college teachers.

In the field of politics, Filipino women were given the right to vote in 1937. Two of the country’s last six presidents were women, with the incumbent being the daughter of one of the six. Filipinos generally consider themselves as being a matriarchal society, where men may wield positions of strength, but where women actually control the power.

In 2006, the Philippines also ranked sixth among 115 countries in the annual World Economic Forum report.

Apart from the Philippines, other Asean countries rated in the report are Vietnam (number 42 with 68.9 points), Thailand (52, with 68.2 points), Singapore (77, with 66.1 points), Indonesia (81, with 65.5 points), and Malaysia (92, 64.4 points).

The U.S. ranked number 31 with 70 points, while Japan was at 91, with 64.5 points. At the tail end of the list was Yemen , with 45.1 points.

Two Eastern European countries, Lithuania and Latvia, showed dramatic rises in their standing. Latvia rose to 13th place in 2007, from 19th place in 2006. Lithuania went from 21st place last year, to 14th place this year.


source: http://www.philnewscentral.com/


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