The 2015 Global Gender Gap Index declared Egypt as number 136 out of the 145 countries measured, with the country ranked at number 1 having the best gender equality and the 145th country expressing the most disparities. With Egypt among the top ten countries with the largest gender gaps, USAID, U.N. Women and UNICEF are all determined to advocate for women’s empowerment in Egypt.

Women Empower Women

U.N. Women tells the story of an Egyptian woman named Maissan Hassan, who is the program manager for the Women and Memory Forum (WMF). Since 1995, WMF seeks to tell the stories of Arab women without any bias or negative perceptions.

Hassan grew up with her mother telling of the inequalities she experienced regarding her career choice and her inability to choose a husband. Her mother battled these inequalities and became a professor at a university.

Hassan was inspired by her own mother’s life story and wished to document the trials and experiences of other women.

Not only does WMF record both oral and written histories on Arab women, but they also establish the Women and Memory Library and Documentation Centre to provide a designated resource center for gender and women’s studies. These stories empower Egyptian women and girls to seek their own dreams and join the battle against gender disparities.

To spread the word and gain female empowerment, WMF and other NGOs held two events in 2014 called “Women’s Rights and the State: Insight into the Egyptian Feminist Movement” and “Revolutionizing Gender Education: Lessons from Egypt.”

Education

Advocacy and education work hand-in-hand to gain women empowerment in Egypt. UNICEF and education officials from Egypt partnered with UNGEI to hold a conference in support of gender equality in Egyptian schools.

As one of the first to gain partnership with UNGEI, Egypt has focused on improving early childhood programs through training teachers and creating a child-centered curriculum since 2006. The conference also identified the value in informing parents and gaining families’ support in equal, quality education to end gendered stereotypes.

With UNICEF financially supporting community schools and UNGEI advocating for higher female attendance, Egyptian schools began to witness a leveling of the gender gap in 2012. While the primary school enrollment rate was 105 percent male, it was 99 percent female. This ratio proves a near success in the efforts to provide females with an education equal to that of males.

Labor

In turn, USAID partnered with the government of Egypt to end restrictions on women’s economic participation. The 2015 Global Gender Gap Index stated that 79 percent of men participate in the labor force, while only 26 percent of females participate.

To address such a disparity, USAID implemented the Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (SEED) project, which aids women with business strategies and guides them toward opening their own businesses. In the encouragement of entrepreneurship, women create more jobs in Egypt and gain leadership roles without needing to battle the male hierarchy.

Even further, USAID promotes women empowerment in Egypt by granting scholarships to female undergraduates and graduates in fields related to business, science, and engineering. Since 2014, USAID has given over 600 of these scholarships.

Through the tireless efforts of NPOs, a shift in the role and confidence of women within Egyptian communities has prevailed.

– Brianna White

Photo: Flickr

 

Women’s Empowerment in El Salvador
El Salvador is a tiny conservative country in Central America and also one of the world’s deadliest countries for women in the world. In fact, the country has the highest murder rate in the Western Hemisphere. Women’s empowerment in El Salvador is a task made all the more difficult given the highest rate of women murdered in the country.

The Plight of Female El Salvadorians

In 2016, one in every 5,000 women was killed according to the Institute of Legal Medicine. This figure did not and could not take into account the females killed, dismembered and buried in clandestine locations.

Criminal gangs, known as maras, are the largest impediment to women’s empowerment in El Salvador. The government has periodically attempted to establish truces with the gangs but the bitter rivalry between Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 youth gangs has left little room for hope of an end to war and conflict.

Spurred by mass deportations of gang members from the U.S., the problem of gangs began affecting El Salvador at a sensitive time in its history when civil society was recuperating. The government lacked any strategy to reintegrate or psychologically support these gang members, who found the only recourse in turning to abduction, killings and extortions. The same gangs today inflict sexual violence and assaults on women from all walks of life.

Sexual and LGBTQ Assaults

Because abortion is illegal in El Salvador under any circumstances, including rape, victims of sexual assaults face heavy penalties and are subject to authorities’ prejudices. Earlier this year, a teen rape victim was sentenced to 30 years in prison after having a stillbirth, the same amount of time given to gang members convicted of murder.

According to the UNHCR, seven transgender women in El Salvador were killed in the country but some local LGBT organizations placed the number as high as 17 in the first four months of 2017. Lack of investigation and prosecution of violence against the LGBT community by police and gangs alike has engendered a culture of impunity and threatened efforts for all women’s empowerment in El Salvador.

One Salvadoran transgender activist, Karla Avelar, has spoken out against such violence despite receiving many threats and surviving three assassination attempts.

Other Salvadoran women are far from silent; rather they actively uplift themselves to plant seeds of independence and empowerment.

For instance, a Salvadoran woman is at the heart of legally challenging restrictions on refugees seeking a better life in neighboring countries. After President Trump issued executive orders to curtail immigration and refugee resettlement in the United States and cast doubt on the role of the United States as a safe country for refugees, many Central American migrants living in the United States made the dangerous border crossings to seek asylum protection in Canada.

One of these persons was a Salvadorian woman identified as “ABC” in court documents escaping persecution and facing removal proceedings in the United States. After ABC was denied entry to Canada under the Safe Third Country Agreement, many groups filed challenges to the Agreement to prevent her deportation from the United States to El Salvador.

Global Encouragement of Women Empowerment

In El Salvador, rural women cooperatives are encouraging the participation of women in agriculture. With the support of international and local government initiatives for women’s empowerment in El Salvador, such as Ciudad Mujer, many rural women are finding a way out of poverty through increased access to public services, income levels and even provisions for child care for working women.

One of the 26 such cooperatives, Mujeres en Acción (Women in Action), has been supported by the U.N. Women to encourage women to become entrepreneurs. Other women are partaking in economic empowerment through cooking businesses.

HOPE

Salvador’s HOPE is a Christian-based, non-profit based in Melbourne, Australia working to uplift Salvadorans from the traps of poverty. According to the organization, HOPE is just the beginning of changing the living and working conditions of women in El Salvador. It works with the civil society and local NGOs in El Salvador “to positively influence, impact and empower people through the establishment of programs that promote development and self- sustainability.”

HOPE also runs several Women’s Empowerment projects that provide education, training and support to women as well as challenge the gender stereotypes that perpetuate violence against women.

The Women’s Empowerment Project 

Another initiative, the Women’s Empowerment Project (WEP), has combated the marginalization and vulnerability of Salvadoran women by providing them with workshops, counseling and other services “that aim to strengthen their self-confidence, improve their leadership and communication skills as well as develop business management techniques.”

Women’s empowerment in El Salvador remains a work in progress and is compounded by the violence inflicted against them by corrupt police officials and gang members. The rights of women in El Salvador and elsewhere are an integral part of the fight for universal human rights and fundamental freedoms and need to be extended for women’s economic, political, social and cultural empowerment.

Salvadoran women are actively mobilizing and breaking down barriers to participate in public life; they should be encouraged and aided by the United States and the international community to empower their communities and care for their families.

– Mohammed Khalid

Photo: Flickr

Women's Empowerment in Sudan
Located in North Africa, Sudan has a population of 47.5 million people. Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the country’s current president, came into power in 1989 and was first elected president in 1996. The country endured many years of conflict between its northern and southern regions before a vote in July 2011 split the country in two. Many of the issues between the two areas stemmed from a conflict over religion, the mainly Christian and Animist south disagreeing with being ruled by the Muslim north.

The population which was perhaps the most severely affected by the war was Sudanese women. USAID reported that Sudanese women were disproportionately impacted by the conflict, which took a negative toll on a myriad of factors, including their health, safety and economic opportunities.

Despite how severely they were affected, women had a large role in the reconciliation between communities and the overall peacebuilding in the country. This is why USAID worked to gain additional support for the problems Sudanese women face.

Many organizations, like USAID and the U.N. Fund for Gender Equality (FGE), work to provide programs for understanding women’s empowerment in Sudan, among other places. Their work aims to prevent women from being so harshly impacted by the political climate in Sudan. However, the conflict still caused a plethora of Sudanese women to become refugees or internally displaced.

Additionally, the war has forced many of the women to become the heads of their households. It is estimated that the women that were widowed by the war became the heads of 60 percent of households in Sudan.

However, Sudanese Women Empowerment for Peace (SuWEP), formed in the 1990s, has brought many women in Sudan together. Some of the group’s goals include providing women with conflict resolution training and advocating for the inclusion of women from all different backgrounds. The group’s overall aim centers around improving women’s empowerment in Sudan.

Though the group faces many obstacles, such as a lack of funding, international recognition and mobility due to the war, it remains active. SuWEP still works to raise awareness and share information. Some of the group’s partner organizations organized and implemented activities, which SuWEP currently runs. The work done by SuWEP to improve the lives of women affected by the war demonstrates the importance of improving women’s empowerment in Sudan.

Despite displacement and other negative effects experienced by Sudanese women as a result of the conflict, groups such as SuWEP are working with great effort to remedy these issues. The recent split between the two regions of Sudan presents additional problems for SuWEP but they will continue to work towards ensuring a peaceful transition.

– Haley Rogers

Photo: Flickr

 

Women's Empowerment in BotswanaSeveral legislative initiatives are building rungs in the socioeconomic ladder to improve women’s empowerment in Botswana. The nation currently ranks 95th out of 188 countries in the United Nations Development Programme Gender Inequality Index report. Ranking in the 21st percentile is not ideal, but conditions are ostensibly better; in 2015, Botswana ranked 108th.

The Gender Affairs Department has sanctioned programs dedicated to the coordination and development of gender equality throughout the republic. The Women’s Economic Empowerment Programme and the Women’s Grant are two such examples. These agendas provide seed money for women’s groups to help jumpstart women-led small business projects.

The presence of women in the business sector and in leadership positions is important, especially when it comes to women’s empowerment in Botswana. “When women are empowered and can earn an income, they invest back into their families and communities [statistically more than men]. This drives hunger, poverty and malnutrition down and improves standards of health, education and well-being, which is good for all of us,” says Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. Women executive director. Women in businesses and leadership positions have profound social and global implications.

The National Policy on Gender and Development was approved by the Botswanan government in March 2015. This policy is designed to address the social inequities that still survive economically and socially. Priority areas include poverty prevention and economic development, social protection, the promotion of democracy, freedom from violence and the protection of vulnerable groups. The recognition of gender equality and legal involvement is important because it lends credence to the cause and serves to empower women in Botswana.

Botswana’s Vision 2036, underscored by their slogan “prosperity for all”, is a legislative movement aimed at developing the republic economically, socially and administratively. The vision is designed to complement Africa’s Agenda 2063, a socioeconomic-focused initiative. “Botswana will be a society where all men and women have equal opportunity to actively participate in the economic, social, cultural and political development,” the Vision 2036 declaration explains. Gender equality is central to the success of its overall goal of putting Botswana on the economic map.

Women’s empowerment in Botswana is improving. Since 1990, the average expected years of schooling for girls has gone from 10.3 years in 1990 to 12.8 years in 2015. The percentage of women with at least some secondary education went from 41 percent (1990) to 85.1 percent (2015). The average gross national income for females has gone up from $7,988 (1991) to $13,281 (2015).

Remarking on the UNiTE campaign to end violence against women and the National Gender-Based Violence Strategy 2015-2020, Vice President Mokgweettsi E. Masisi highlights Botswana’s commitment to “achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls, and all other goals that intend to improve the dignity and the status of women,” at the 2015 Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Botswana.

African feminism and empowerment is a striking movement gaining traction and saturating Botswana.  “Feminism in the African continent has existed for generations,” says Botswanan columnist Taffiny Kablay. Kablay mentioned the names of aerospace engineer Bonolo Mpabanga, writer Siyanda Mohutsiwa, “Mma Mosadi Movement” co-founder Marea Otlaadisa and stroke awareness campaign creator Bakhwi Kragh to illustrate that there are several pioneers of women’s empowerment in Botswana. The necessary cornerstones are all in place for the progression of Botswana with African feminist rhetoric buttressing legislation, thereby collaborating social and administrative efforts.

– Sloan Bousselaire

Photo: Flickr

Women's Empowerment in MyanmarThere is still a long way to go in order to achieve universal gender equality. However, more governments and organizations around the world are making this a priority. As such, there is progress being made to improving women’s empowerment in Myanmar.

One of the most notable recent pushes for gender equality was the U.N. Millennium Development Goal number three, which seeks to promote gender equality and empower women. This goal has helped governments and NGOs all over the world have a better understanding of the importance of prioritizing women’s empowerment.

Myanmar is an example of a country that still has a long way to go to achieve gender equality. But progress is being made in closing the gender gap. The country is at a key juncture and must continue to develop in a way that benefits its entire population.

Here are some of the positive steps that are being taken toward women’s empowerment in Myanmar.

  1. Myanmar’s Ministry of Social Welfare and Relief and Resettlement is implementing reforms that enhance gender equality and empowerment. The ministry is cooperating with other international organizations to work toward women’s empowerment in Myanmar.
  2. Myanmar’s government created a National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women. This plan includes many of the same areas of focus as the Beijing Platform for Action, the agenda for women’s empowerment adopted by the United Nations. The National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women is a ten-year plan. It includes directives targeting the key areas that affect women’s lives and indicates practical ways to address the issues that Myanmar’s women experience.
  3. U.N. Women has been working in Myanmar since 2013. The organization has made electing more women to government positions one of its priorities. This will give women a stronger voice in politics and make sure that their concerns are heard in all areas of government. Other priorities include ending violence against women and girls and working for women’s economic empowerment.
  4. The Gender Equality Network was founded in Myanmar in 2008. This NGO works toward women’s empowerment in Myanmar by influencing government policy as well as social and cultural norms.

Women’s empowerment in Myanmar has improved in key ways, but there is still work to be done. Because of the long history of patriarchal societies ingrained in cultures across the globe, progress toward women’s empowerment is often slower than we would hope for it to be.

It is important to recognize the progress that is being made while maintaining a commitment to the goal of complete gender equality across the globe.

– Aaron Childree

Photo: Flickr

Women's empowerment in Kazakhstan
Since gaining independence in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan has come to have a population of 17.8 million. Its president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has been in power since independence. Not only is the country’s population large, but so is its geographic size, being no smaller than Western Europe. Though the country may face issues in some areas, the issue of women’s empowerment in Kazakhstan is better than it is in some other countries.

The percentage of women in the national parliament in Kazakhstan is equivalent to that of France, ranking Kazakhstan 47th in the world. This ranking is nearly 30 spots higher than the U.S., which is ranked 76th when it comes to the country’s percentage of women in national parliaments.

Similarly, 66 percent of entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan are women and in 2011, 34.4 percent of businesses in the country were either owned or partly-owned by women. Statistics like these are what contribute to Kazakhstan’s rank of 43 out of 142 countries when considering gender equality.

The country’s effort to support entrepreneurship among its female population is evident with its support of the UNDP Country Development Programme Document for 2016-2020, which aimed, among many other things, to provide more specialized support to female entrepreneurs. This document was created with the help of Kazakhstan’s government.

However, the country still faces problems when it comes to the issue of violence against women. In 2016, there were 2481 registered cases of violence against women and young girls, though this number does not account for undocumented violence. In the same year, 778 women died because of sexual assault, 742 of those being due to suicide.

Despite this setback, U.N. Women in Kazakhstan has funded a project that aims to provide survivors of this trauma with the help they need, which is a positive step regarding women’s empowerment in Kazakhstan.

The country views women as important contributors to its economic, political and social success and even recognizes International Women’s Day, March 8, as a national holiday.

Though Kazakhstan may still struggle with gender inequality and violence against women, the country has made significant efforts to remedy these issues, such as providing $56 million for the development of programs that will support women’s entrepreneurship. As with many other countries, women’s empowerment in Kazakhstan can improve, but improvement is hardly implausible with the number of resources Kazakhstan dedicates to improving gender equality.

– Haley Rogers

Photo: Flickr

Malaysia has made great strides in its economic development in recent decades, becoming a regional economic powerhouse on its way to being a high-income nation. Despite a notable increase in income and quality of life, half of the country’s population is still being left behind — there are still a number of barriers to achieving women’s empowerment in Malaysia.

Malaysia is a diverse and multiracial country where the status of women’s empowerment is complex and may depend on their religion and ethnic background. About 60 percent of Malaysians are Muslim Malays, 23 percent are Chinese, 7 percent are Indian and the rest hail from various indigenous groups. The country’s major religions include Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism.

Within Malaysia’s large Muslim community, over 90 percent of women reported undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM), making the country one of the worst offenders in the world for the practice. FGM is spreading in popularity in Malaysia, especially in more conservative Muslim states dominated by religious parties.

While non-Muslim women have equal parenting rights across the country, Muslim women only enjoy those rights in four out of thirteen states. Child marriage is still permitted in Malaysia, and efforts to raise the age of marriage for girls to 18 were defeated in parliament last year.

Despite these challenges, a greater focus has been placed on women’s empowerment in Malaysia, particularly in regard to women entrepreneurs, journalists and politicians. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the wife of imprisoned former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, is the leader of the country’s opposition and may become Malaysia’s first female prime minister at the next elections in 2018.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has a project that supports women’s empowerment in Malaysia by aiding low-income women entrepreneurs in the conservative states of Terengganu and Kelantan, enabling them to succeed in the cottage food industry. Women now outnumber men in universities despite constituting a minority of the total population and participation in the labor force has steadily increased in the last two decades.

– Giacomo Tognini

Photo: Flickr

Women's Empowerment in Pakistan 2016 was an important year for women’s empowerment in Pakistan. The Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act was enacted with the help of the United Nations. It is the first legislation in the history of Pakistan to provide women with protection against crimes like stalking, domestic violence, emotional and economic abuse and even cybercrimes.

In addition, Balochistan’s Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2016 was also passed. The province of Sindh adopted a Home-Based Workers’ Policy to ensure fair wages, social security and basic rights for the informal workforce that comprises of millions of women.

However, Pakistan’s ranking for gender equality (130th) is still one of the lowest in the world. Only 22.7 percent of women are part of the workforce, and most of them are in the informal sector with low wages and no legal protection. Women who have been to secondary school make up less than a fifth of its female population. Even though women have about a fifth of parliamentary seats, considerable progress is required for women’s empowerment in Pakistan.

Focus Areas:

  1. Laws and policies have to be aligned to create a conducive environment for women’s rights.
  2. Strengthening capacity and resources.
  3. Community-level initiatives to bring about changes in practices and attitudes to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in Pakistan.

As per the Women’s Economic Participation and Empowerment in Pakistan Status Report of 2016, the three components of participation, resources and agency need to be addressed through political commitment. Pakistan requires an institutional and legal framework such as labor regulations and economic decision making that removes barriers to owning and accessing resources, including inheritance and property.

The Social Action Program was launched to improve basic conditions like primary education, health, sanitation and population welfare. Unfortunately, it has not yielded the desired impact. The health indicators of women in Pakistan are among the worst in the world, with a high female infant mortality rate. 40 percent of women are anemic and the fertility rate is 5.4 per woman. One woman out of 38 dies from pregnancy-related causes.

Several discriminatory laws exist and women have unequal rights to inheritance, termination of marriage, natural guardianship of children and minimum age of marriage. Even polygamy has not been outlawed.

The Hudood law promulgated in 1979 that equated rape with adultery is a black mark on the status of women in Pakistan. This created a situation where women who reported a rape but were unable to prove it are charged with adultery. As per the Law of Evidence 1984, the value of a woman’s testimony is only half as good as a man’s. Women’s empowerment in Pakistan is meaningless in light of the gross violations of their basic human rights.

Last year, the chairman of Council of Islamic Ideology made a proposal that allows Pakistani husbands to “lightly beat” their wives if she disobeys him or refuses to have sex with him. This tells us the real standing of women in the country.

But there is a silver lining here, as this has finally brought about a reaction from the women themselves. Many Pakistani political leaders and journalists came forward and shamed the proposal. The powerful #TryBeatingMeLightly social network campaign has shown that women are ready to fight back against oppression.

To bring about any real change towards women’s empowerment in Pakistan, it is crucial to disassemble the patriarchal values embedded in the societal value system. A low level of resource investment combined with negative social biases that relate a family’s honor to a woman’s sexuality, and more importantly the internalization of patriarchy by women themselves are the obstacles that have to be tackled to bring about gender parity.

– Tripti Sinha

Photo: Flickr

Women's Empowerment in the PhilippinesThe Philippines has maintained its place among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of gender equality. To achieve women’s empowerment in the Philippines, the government adopted the Magna Carta of Women (MCW) was adopted in 2009. It seeks to end all discrimination and to promote the rights of women, as well as to establish the Philippines’ commitment to the principles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women’s Committee and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The MCW’s agenda includes:

  1. Achieve fifty-fifty gender balance in government positions.
  2. Leave benefits and nondiscrimination in employment, especially in the military and police.
  3. Equal access in education and equal status.
  4. Nondiscriminatory and nonderogatory portrayal of women in media and films.
  5. Mandates review, amendment and repeal of existing discriminatory laws.

The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) is the oversight body on women’s concerns and acts as the catalyst for gender mainstreaming and the lead advocate of women’s empowerment in the Philippines. It works around focus areas such as Women’s Priority Legislative Agenda, gender-responsive governance, leadership and political participation, violence against women and women’s economic empowerment.

However, challenges still exist for the Philippines. Poverty and vulnerability of rural and indigenous women remain a pressing issue. Each day, 11 women die due to complications from pregnancy and childbirth, and many women still lack access to productive employment.

The Philippines is the only country in the world which does not allow for a divorce.  Other than the death of one’s partner, getting an annulment is the only option for dissolving a marriage. According to the Philippine Commission on Women, this can be done on grounds of “lack of parental consent; insanity/psychological incapacity; fraud, force, intimidation or undue influence; impotence; and sexually transmissible diseases.” The burden of a failed marriage often falls on the woman due to cultural stereotypes. Adopting divorce in the Philippines’ Family Code is essential to uplift the plight of women trapped in a marriage ridden with violence, abuse, oppression and deprivation, and to achieve women’s empowerment in the Philippines.

The Philippines also considers adultery and concubinage as criminal offenses against chastity and are drafted as well as implemented in a manner prejudicial to women. Many provisions of the Family Code give men more decision-making powers than women. Another blatant violation of human rights, Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code, exempts a husband or a parent who causes serious physical harm or death upon his wife or minor daughter if she has been caught portraying “unacceptable sexual behavior.”

Structural sexism remains the biggest obstacle to women’s empowerment in the Philippines. Even though there are many laws in place that score well on international measures, the implementation of these policies is slow and has not translated into gender parity in the largely patriarchal society.

-Tripti Sinha

Photo: Flickr

Women’s Empowerment in BhutanHappiness and wellbeing have always been a part of the Bhutanese political psyche. The fourth Druk Gyalpo, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck introduced Gross National Happiness (GNH) into both international indexes and Bhutan’s policies to define an official development paradigm for the country. When the constitution went into effect in 2008, the kingdoms’ leaders were directed to consult the four pillars of Gross National Happiness: good governance, sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of culture, and environmental conservation.

While Bhutan regularly ranks among the top happiest countries in all of Asia, happiness is not equally distributed among its residents: it is found that while 49 percent of men are happy, only one-third of women are happy.

In the past few decades, Bhutan has seen major socio-economic transformation and a rapidly growing per capita income. Yet despite progress in achieving gender equality in education and participation in the labor force, cultural restrictions have not allowed women to fully bridge the gap. The 2010 GNH survey findings have shown that the gender differences are greatest in negative emotions, work, leisure time, schooling, literacy, political participation, safety from human harm and wildlife damage, all to the disadvantage of Bhutanese women.

Due to matrilineal inheritance practiced in Bhutan, nearly 60 percent of rural women and about 45 percent of urban women have land and property titles registered in their name. However, these titles do not translate into economic advantages for these women. Land cannot be used as collateral for access to finance. Additionally, land-ownership makes it difficult for women to migrate and acquire better opportunities for work and acquire skills.

A report prepared by the World Bank in collaboration with the National Commission for Women and Children recognized the need for closing the gender gap in happiness in Bhutan. The report maintains that a greater voice for women in the management of land and access to an effective secondary as well as higher education, along with training in practical skills can help address this gap. Most importantly though, underlying social norms about gender roles in households should be addressed. Men should offer a greater role in sharing housework and raising children. Additionally, basic literacy among women should be improved to encourage more accepting attitudes and achieve great participation within the community.

While Bhutan still must work toward closing the gender gap in happiness, it has continued to improve in recent years. The country has the potential to become a leading nation in regards to gender equality.

– Richa Bijlani

Photo: Flickr