The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest Global Gender Gap Report brings both a stark warning and a glimmer of hope. Despite marginal progress in gender equality over the past year, the pace has slowed, extending the estimated time to close the global gender gap from 131 years in 2023 to 134 years — approximately five generations. However, the 2024 “bumper election year,” with its unprecedented number of national elections, presents a unique opportunity to significantly advance women’s representation in the political sphere and, consequently, accelerate progress towards gender parity.
Current Status of the Global Gender Gap
The WEF’s Global Gender Gap Index, now in its 18th year, measures gender-based disparities across four critical areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. The global gender gap currently stands at 68.5%, a mere 0.1 percentage point improvement from last year. While there have been modest gains in economic participation and opportunity, political empowerment remains a major area of concern. Women hold about 27% of parliamentary seats and 23% of ministerial positions, and fewer than 10% of heads of state are female. This glaring imbalance highlights the need for decisive action in political representation.
The Promise of the 2024 Election Cycle
The extensive election cycle of 2024, with over 60 national elections, offers a critical juncture to enhance women’s political representation. Saadia Zahidi, overseeing chief at WEF, emphasizes, “When so many individuals are going to polls around the world, and there’s so much change in political frameworks, there’s an opportunity here to leap forward.” This surge in electoral activity could facilitate significant improvements in gender parity, both by increasing the number of women in leadership positions and by enacting policies that support and empower women.
Recent elections provide encouraging signs. Last week, Mexico elected its first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum, whose campaign focused on reducing violence against women. Similarly, Iceland elected Halla Tomasdottir as president, known for her efforts to improve female representation in the financial sector. These milestones indicate a positive shift towards greater political empowerment for women.
Regional and Sectoral Variations
Europe continues to lead the way in gender equality with a gender parity score of 75%, closely followed by North America at 74.8%. Latin America and the Caribbean, ranking third with 74.2%, have shown the most significant improvement since the index’s inception. In contrast, the Middle East and North Africa lag with a score of 61.7%.
Economic participation also reveals stark disparities. Women’s global workforce participation has risen to 65.7%, recovering from a pandemic low of 62.3% in 2022. Notably, women’s presence in AI engineering has doubled since 2016. However, women remain significantly underrepresented in STEM and AI fields, indicating the need for continued efforts to close these gaps.
A Call for Renewed Commitment
The slow and incremental progress highlighted in this year’s report underscores the urgent need for a renewed global commitment to achieving gender parity, particularly in economic and political spheres. “We cannot wait until 2158 for parity: the time for decisive action is now,” Zahidi urges. Various initiatives, such as the Gender Parity Accelerators and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lighthouse Programme, aim to promote gender equality.
India's Position and Challenges
India, ranking 129 out of 146 nations, exemplifies the challenges faced by many countries. Despite closing 64.1% of its gender gap, India struggles with significant economic disparities, where women earn only Rs 39.8 for every Rs 100 that men earn. This economic disparity is one of the largest hurdles in achieving gender parity globally, alongside political empowerment.
As the 2024 election cycle unfolds, it holds the potential to be a turning point in the journey towards gender equality. By increasing women’s political representation and implementing supportive policies, there is a significant opportunity to narrow the global gender gap. The WEF’s report calls for immediate and decisive action, highlighting that the path to gender parity requires persistent and collective effort. The world’s largest-ever voter turnout could indeed be the catalyst needed to bring about meaningful and lasting change in gender equality.
