The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranked first in the Arab world in the gender gap report 2022, issued by the World Economic Forum.
According to the report, UAE advanced to 68th place globally among the 146 countries covered by the report in 2022, rising four global ranks at once.
The UAE topped the list of countries in terms of achieving gender parity, as this is the second largest progress in terms of reducing the gender gap this year.
Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, president of the UAE Gender Balance Council, president of Dubai Women Establishment and wife of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy PM and Minister of the Presidential Court, congratulated Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, chairwoman of the General Women’s Union, president of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and supreme chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, on the UAE’s new achievement in gender balance.
Sheikha Manal expressed her pride in this new regional and global achievement for the UAE, which continues its global progress in gender balance and reflects the country’s priorities in its approach and vision under the leadership of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
The Middle East had an average score of 63.4 percent, while South Asia, which ranked the lowest, had 62.3 per cent of the gender gap closed.
The Middle East and North Africa have closed 96.4 per cent of the gender gap for health and survival.
Worst performing countries
Nevertheless, the degree of gender in the region remains similar to the latest edition, which gives the MENA region a time frame to bridge the 115-year gap.
The UAE, Israel and Lebanon are among the best performers, while Qatar, Oman and Algeria are the worst performers, according to the report.
Most improved
The countries that have improved the most in the region this year, compared to 2021, are Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Kuwait.
Iceland is number one in the world
Globally, Iceland continues to lead the list of the most gender-equal countries, followed by Finland, Norway, New Zealand and Sweden.
The report, which included 146 countries in 2022, pointed out that the period following the outbreak of COVID-19 did not witness any reduction in the level of the gender gap, as only one country out of every five countries managed to close the gender gap by at least 1 per cent in the last year.
