Gender inequality worldwide

Thankfully the UK is one of the most equal countries in the world. Sadly that’s not the case in most of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, and parts of South America according to the UN’s multi-component Gender Inequality Index.

On international women's day, we turn our attention to gender inequality across the world. Sadly, millions of girls and women worldwide still suffer oppression, abuse, and diminished rights compared with men. Inequality not only harms and disadvantages these women but is a major barrier to human development.

The United Nations Development Programme produces a multi-component Gender Inequality Index (GII) to measure inequality and shed light on women's position in 162 countries. Using dimensions of health, empowerment and labour market, the GII yields insights into gender gaps internationally and highlights areas in need of policy intervention to tackle systematic inequalities faced by women. 

The most recently published GII shows that areas such as Europe and North America are thankfully considered to have low gender inequality, having made great strides since the 1990s. Unfortunately, however, large parts of the world, especially Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and South America, still suffer from high gender inequality. To tackle this inequality requires major policy interventions in the affected countries and often a change in social and cultural attitudes.