| Gender gap is narrowing around the world, report claims Nordic nations are still top of the list for equality, according to World Economic ForumThe gender gap is narrowing across the globe, with large parts of the world moving towards greater equality between the sexes in terms of pay, education, health and political representation, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.Nordic nations, longtime champions of an equal society, topped the list with Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden demonstrating "great equality between men and women" in the forum's Global Gender Gap Index.Of the countries surveyed, 59% narrowed the gap in the past year. Denmark, the Philippines, the UK and Sri Lanka stayed at the same ranks as in 2009, keeping them in the top 20.Although Iceland, rated the best nation for gender equality in the world, has seen its economic wealth shattered by recession, the government is committed to levelling society further and introduced laws this year to force companies with more than 50 staff to ensure their management is made up of at least 40% women by September 2013.In Nordic nations, women live longer, have high employment rates and often enjoy generous maternity and paternity schemes. There are more than 1.5 women for every man enrolled in tertiary education.Gender equality, claim the report's authors, boosts growth in both rich and poor countries. The report warned that while gaps were narrowing between men's and women's health and education, women were still left out of the labour market – including salaried and skilled jobs.Klaus Schwab, the chairman of the WEF, said: "Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic competitiveness. Women and girls must be treated equally if a country is to grow and prosper."We still need a true gender equality revolution, not only to mobilise a major pool of talent both in terms of volume and quality, but also to create a more compassionate value system within all our institutions."The developing world had some notable success stories. Lesotho, the Philippines and South Africa were more equal than the UK, which was 15th in the global list. Lesotho, which rose two places to 8th, is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa to have no gender gap in either education or health.The emerging economic giants in Asia had some way to go. China dropped a place to 61st because of the prevalence of female foeticide – aborting baby girls because of a cultural preference for boys. This has been exacerbated by the country's one-child policy and the report noted that China's sex ratio at birth fell this year from 0.91 to 0.88 girls for every boy.India fares even worse at 112th with the report warning that "persistent health, education and economic participation gaps will be detrimental to (the country's) growth". The bottom three spots this year went to Pakistan at 132nd, followed by Chad and Yemen at 134th.The US rose to 19th, jumping 12 positions, in part because women now occupy a third of the top jobs in president Barack Obama's administration, compared to a quarter in the last government.There was also a rise in income for American women to almost $35,000 (£22,000) from more than $25,000. While the UK performs well in education and health, its male-to-female ratios in politics and the workforce are low. In terms of wages the UK ranks 78th out of the 134 countries.The poorest performer in the richer democracies appears to be France. It ranks 46th, trailing much poorer nations such as Kazakhstan and Jamaica, and has fallen 28 places since last year due largely to a fall in the number of women in politics despite legislation that requires equal numbers of both sexes on political parties' lists of candidates. mandates that both sexes must be equally represented as candidates on political party lists.GenderEqualityWomenEconomicsGlobal economySocial trendsRandeep Rameshguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Video | Younge America: US midterm elections preview Gary Younge previews his new series on the US midterm elections, in which he drives from Colorado to Nevada in search of Obama's grassroots army and the Tea PartyGary YoungeLaurence Topham guardian.co.uk |
Chinese police refuse to register human rights lawyer as missing International concern for Gao Zhisheng, outspoken critic of state security, who has not been seen since AprilChinese police have refused to register an outspoken human rights lawyer who has not been seen since April as a missing person, his elder brother said today.The disappearance of Gao Zhisheng has caused international concern, particularly because he had previously made detailed claims of torture at the hands of security officials during detentions.Gao Zhiyi said he last saw his younger brother at their family home in the central province of Shaanxi in early April. "Our family is very worried about him so I came to Beijing to report the situation to police, but they will not register the case," he said."They told me: 'The situation occurred before, so just wait and you will find him again.'"He added: "The last time I saw my brother he just said he would return to Beijing to 'spend some relaxing days'. After that we couldn't find him."Human rights groups reported in February 2009 that security officers had taken the lawyer from his home overnight. He was not seen for more than a year and friends and human rights campaigners feared he might be dead.Once lauded by the government, he angered authorities by taking on clients including members of banned spiritual movement Falun Gong.As international concern about his case mounted, he suddenly re-emerged in March this year and gave several interviews. The committed Christian said he had been living at a sacred Buddhist site, miles away from his birthplace or Beijing home.Friends who spoke to him said they did not believe he was speaking freely. Shortly afterwards he vanished again.In a tweet, lawyer Teng Biao – who said he accompanied Gao Zhiyi to the police station – described Gao Zhisheng as China's bravest lawyer, citing his persistence in exposing the truth.Nicholas Bequelin, Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: "Gao Zhisheng is definitely one of the most worrying cases."The authorities seem to be deliberately using criminal methods as a way of silencing a human rights defender and intimidating others."Earlier this year, foreign minister Yang Jiechi said Gao's rights had been respected and that he had been convicted of incitement to subvert state power – apparently referring to the suspended sentence he received in 2006.In a separate development, more activists and dissidents have complained of increased pressure following the awarding of the Nobel peace prize to jailed author Liu Xiaobo.His wife remains under house arrest and his friend Yu Jie said in an email that police were now preventing him from leaving home, adding that he thought it might be linked to Liu's award or a Christian meeting.Friends of Cui Weiping, a Beijing Film Academy professor and social critic, said she was detained at a police station after security guards stopped her attending an art exhibition and concert at the Czech embassy tonight. The event was non-political but may have been considered sensitive because Václav Havel, the Czech playwright and former president, nominated Liu for the Nobel prize.Another dissident was prevented from attending and a third decided not to go after being warned to stay at home.Cui later tweeted that she was back home from the police station after the "very strange" incident. An employee at the station said they had not dealt with anyone of that name.ChinaHuman rightsTania Braniganguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Newlyweds Brand, Perry leave India for Maldives By PRAKASH BHANDARI 2010-10-25T14:26:39ZJAIPUR, India (AP) -- Comedian Russell Brand and pop singer Katy Perry flew to the Maldives on Monday after their wedding at a tiger reserve in India, while authorities investigated whether the wedding party broke noise laws.... hosted.ap.org |
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