On March 30, 2021, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Report on Gender Equality, the Global Gender Gap Report, was published

The Global Gender Gap Report was first published in 2006.

The index measures the level of gender gap that exists in a given country between women and men across 14 different variables in four key areas (sub-index):

•  Economic participation and career opportunities.

•  Education.

•  Health and survival.

•  Political rights and opportunities.

The current study covers 156 countries, providing a tool for cross-country comparisons and prioritization of the most effective policies needed to close the gender gap.

The Global Gender Gap Index measures scores on a scale from 0 to 100, and scores can be interpreted as the distance to parity (i.e., the percentage of the gender gap that has been eliminated).

Globally, the average distance traveled to parity is 68%, which is 0.6 percentage points lower than in 2020. These figures are mainly due to the decline in indicators in large countries. On the current trajectory, it will take 135.6 years to bridge the gender gap (32%) worldwide.

If the current trend of bridging the gender gap in politics, economy, health and education continues, then in Western Europe the gender gap will be bridged in 52.1 years, in Eastern Europe and Central Asia it will take 134.7 years, and in South Asia – 195.4 years.

The gender gap in political empowerment remains the largest among the four key sub-indices: only 22% have been closed to date (in Kazakhstan, only 14.1%).

In the ranking of countries, Iceland is ranked # 1 for the 12th time (0.892 points) and is the most equal country in the world, which has eliminated more than 89% of its gender gap, while the country with the lowest rating (Afghanistan) has closed just over 44%. In 2021, the top 10 also includes: Finland (2nd place), Norway (3rd place), New Zealand (4th place), Sweden (5th place), Namibia (6th place), Rwanda (7th place), Lithuania (8th place), Ireland (9th place), Switzerland (10th place).

Over the past three years, Kazakhstan has lost 28 positions

in the Global Gender Gap Index

Expert opinion

Over the past 9 years, starting from 2013 to 2021, Kazakhstan's position in the Global Ranking has deteriorated annually. In 2021, compared to 2012, our country deteriorated its position by 49 points and fell from 32nd place to 80th among 156 countries. The most significant decline (by 28 points) occurred in the last three years. In the ranking, such countries as the Czech Republic (78th place), Thailand (79th place), Russia (81st place) and Tanzania (82nd place) are located next to each other. Among the post-Soviet countries, except Lithuania, the highest positions are occupied by Latvia (20th place), Moldova (28th place), Belarus (33rd place), Estonia (46th place), Georgia (49th place) and Ukraine (74th place).

To date, Kazakhstan has eliminated only 71% of the gender gap, which is 1.1 percentage points lower than in 2012 and 18.2 percentage points behind the leader of the Rating – Iceland. As a result of the annual decline, our country's position dropped from 31st to 80th. The deterioration of the Rating position was affected by changes in almost all 4 key areas (Table 1). The loss of position in the Health and Survival sub-indices (55th place in the 2021 Ranking) and political rights and Opportunities (106th place) had a particularly significant impact.

The health and survival sub-index consists of two indicators – "sex ratio at birth, %" and "healthy life expectancy, in years". In terms of healthy life expectancy, Kazakhstan annually retains its position (1st place) and is located among a large group of leading countries. The deterioration of the sub-index under consideration is due solely to changes in the sex ratio at birth. If in 2012, according to this indicator, Kazakhstan was among the groups of countries that share the first place, then in the rating of 2021 it fell to 141 places and 94 girls were born in comparison with 100 boys. The worst rate among countries is observed in China, where there are 88 girls per 100 boys born.

Table 1. The impact of four key sub-indices on the change in Kazakhstan's position in the Rating, 2012, 2017 and 2021.

Source: Global Gender Gap Report, 2012, 2017, 2021

According to the indicator "women in ministerial positions, %" of the sub-index "political rights and opportunities", Kazakhstan is on the 126th position among the countries covered by the rating, which is 45 points lower than in 2012. The decline in this indicator largely affected the deterioration of the country's position in the sub-index "political rights and opportunities". If in 2012 women made up 16% of all ministers, then in the current ranking only 9%.

Kazakhstan also significantly worsened its position on the two remaining indicators of the sub-index under consideration: "women in parliament,%" and " female / male head of state (for the last 50 years)".

The analysis shows that the difference between countries in some indicators (for example, in the sex ratio at birth) is small, and even minor changes in them can significantly affect the position of a particular country.

Currently, many countries that have joined the global Agenda for sustainable development pay great attention to the involvement of all categories of the population, including women, in decision-making. This, in turn, gives positive results in various areas of the economy. Thus, according to the UN Women, a 10% increase in the number of women in parliament leads to a decrease in per capita emissions by 0.24%.

Kazakhstan is also taking active measures to ensure gender equality. The Concept of Family and Gender Policy is being implemented in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Specific measures are required to improve the effectiveness of the implementation of this document, since today the concepts do not provide for specific financial resources. In this regard, work has begun on the introduction of gender budgeting. But the work is still at the initial stage.

In general, to improve the situation, it is necessary to intensify measures to implement the Sustainable Development Goal 5 "Gender Equality", to improve approaches to involving different categories, especially socially vulnerable categories of the population in making strategic decisions at different levels.

Ensuring gender equality not only gives good results in this rating, but also increases the effectiveness of decisions made.