The Philippines is one of the best places in the world to be a woman, reported the Global Gender Gap Report 2013. The country ranked fifth in the world and number one in Asia, moving up three notches from its previous ranking in 2012.
Iceland secured number one out of 136 countries, followed by Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Philippines, Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark, Switzerland, and Nicaragua. The United Kingdom ranked 18th, the United States at 23, China holding the 68th position, and India at 101st.
The study was released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), who conducts an annual report which assesses each country’s genders’ participation in health, education, politics and economic activity. The WEF said, “the Philippines remains the most advanced country in the (Asia-Pacific) region in terms of gender equality, ranking 5th in the global index. It improves as a result of advances in economic participation and opportunity, a subindex of the report, as well as having a strong score in terms of political participation.” The Philippines is currently the only Asian country to fully close the gender gap in education and health and the country.
Filipina journalist Marites Vitug reportedly said that the Philippines has a “very liberal work atmosphere” with a “fantastic support network” from household help to extended families. “Woman usually hold the purse. Even if they re not the major breadwinner, they do the budget, decide how money is spent. Thus, men don’t have a dismissive attitude toward women,” explained Vitug.
The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) is very proud of their country’s improvement, saying “the collective hard work of government agencies, non-government and civil society organizations, academe and various stakeholders prove that the country indeed is recognizing and valuing women as active drivers of development.”
The commission still admits the country’s remaining challenges for gender equality, explaining “efforts to keep children in school… to expand economic opportunities for women and increase women’s participation in decision-making positions need to be accelerated and sustained in all spheres. PCW will not stop from performing its mandate until we enforce the necessary mechanisms to foster and promote equal opportunities for women and me.”
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Written by Rachel Pozivenec