Islamabad: Pakistan has slipped two spots since last year to rank 153rd out of 156 countries on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2021, published this week.
Women make up 7% of Pakistan’s labor force, the third-lowest figure globally, according to the World Bank, which has pushed for more childcare and a crackdown on sexual harassment to get more women out to work and boost economic growth.
The South Asian nation was ranked as the sixth most dangerous country for women in a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll in 2018, with hundreds of women and girls killed each year by family members angered at perceived damage to their “honor.”
In the WEF’s 2021 report, Pakistan featured among the bottom 10 countries in two of the four sub-indexes: economic participation and opportunity (152nd) and health and survival (153rd).
“Pakistan ranks 153rd out of 156 countries assessed on the index this year, with its gender gap having widened in this edition by 0.7 percentage points, to 55.6%,” the report said, recording large income disparities between women and men in the South Asian nation.
“On average, a Pakistani woman’s income is 16.3% of a man’s. Further, women do not have equal access to justice, ownership of land and non-financial assets or inheritance rights,” the report added.
However, it also noted some improvement in the share of women who were in professional and technical roles, 25.3%, up from 23.4% in a previous edition of the index.
The WEF said only 46.5 percent Pakistani women were literate, 61.6 percent attended primary school, 34.2 percent attended high school and 8.3 percent were enrolled in tertiary education courses.
“Pakistan has closed 94.4% of its Health and Survival gender gap, negatively impacted by wide sex ratio at birth (92%) due to gender-based sex-selective practices, and 85% of women have suffered intimate partner violence,” the report read.
The report showed Pakistan’s rank as relatively higher for political empowerment but women’s representation among parliamentarians (20.2%) and ministers (10.7%) remained low.
Pakistan among four worst nations for women on Global Gender Gap report
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Pakistan among four worst nations for women on Global Gender Gap report
- Women make up 7% of Pakistan’s labor force, the third-lowest figure globally, according to the World Bank
- World Economic Forum says Pakistan’s gender gap has widened, some improvement in share of women in professional, technical roles
Pakistan casts uncertainty over T20 World Cup participation after Bangladesh row
- Pakistan Cricket Board chief criticizes ICC’s ‘double standards’ for replacing Bangladesh with Scotland in T20 World Cup
- PCB boss Mohsin Naqvi says board will take final decision on World Cup participation after Pakistan PM returns from UK
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi this week threw the national cricket team’s participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 into doubt by saying he would seek the government’s directives on it, after the International Cricket Council (ICC) replaced Bangladesh in the tournament.
Naqvi was speaking to reporters in Lahore on Saturday shortly after the ICC announced it had replaced Bangladesh with Scotland in the T20 World Cup. The decision stemmed from Bangladesh’s refusal to play in India owing to security fears. Bangladesh had requested a venue outside India for their World Cup matches.
The demand was made owing to fresh tensions between Bangladesh and India’s cricket boards. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this month to drop Bangladesh’s cricketer Mustafizur Rahman due to political tensions between Dhaka and New Delhi.
Naqvi criticized the ICC for its “double standards” when it came to Bangladesh, pointing out that India and Pakistan were allowed to play against each other at neutral venues as per an earlier deal between both cricket boards and the ICC. He said Bangladesh should be allowed to play in the World Cup.
“If the government of Pakistan says we mustn’t play, then maybe the ICC will bring in a 22nd team (after Scotland),” Naqvi told reporters. “But this decision has to be taken by the government of Pakistan.”
Naqvi said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is in the United Kingdom, adding that a final decision on the matter will be taken then.
“We obey the government of Pakistan, not the ICC,” the PCB chairman said.
Pakistan play all their T20 World Cup matches in Sri Lanka, which are the co-hosts of the tournament. The T20 World Cup 2026 begins next month in India and Sri Lanka.
The Green Shirts play their first match of the tournament against Netherlands on Feb. 7. They are scheduled to play defending champions India on Feb. 15 in Colombo in their group stage clash.
