Guyana has been favourably ranked on the Global Gender Gap Report 2022 produced by the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum, with the report listing Guyana at 35 out of 146 countries and second in the Caribbean for reducing gender inequality.
According to the report, Guyana received a score of 0.752. The report notes that Guyana’s score is a 0.024 improvement on its 2021 index score. Barbados, ranked at number 30 with a score of 0.765, was the only Caribbean country to be ranked above Guyana.
Meanwhile, Jamaica, which was ranked at 38 with a score of 0.749, was the next closest country. When it comes to the entire Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, Guyana is ranked number six.
The report notes that in Guyana, men and women have near equal rights when it comes to access to financial services, as well as access to land and non-land assets. Meanwhile, there are equal rights to inheritances for widows and daughters.
When it comes to education and skills, there were only three categories where more men than women existed in the workforce. For instance, 38.2 per cent of the workforce in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary sciences are women, compared to 61.7 per cent men.
In Information and Communications Technology (ICT), 73 per cent of the workforce are men and 26.5 per cent, women. And in engineering, manufacturing and construction, 77.6 per cent of the workforce are men and 22.3 per cent, women.
However, in health and welfare, the report lists the workforce as 84.4 per cent women and 15.5 per cent men. In education, the workforce was listed as 88.5 per cent women and 11.4 per cent men. Business, administration and law had a 68.7 per cent female to 31.2 per cent male workforce, and in arts and humanities, the workforce was 89.6 per cent female and 10.3 per cent male.
The social sciences, journalism and information sectors meanwhile have a workforce that was 81.7 per cent female and 18.2 per cent male. And significantly less skewed was the natural sciences, mathematics and statistics sector, with 53.3 per cent of the workforce female and 46.6 per cent male.
“Based on the current pace of progress, Latin America and the Caribbean will close its gender gap in 67 years. Six of the 22 indexed countries in this edition improved their gender gap score by at least 1 percentage point,” the report states.
“Among them, Peru, Guyana, and Chile have improved their gender parity scores the most. By contrast, more populous countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina showed mild stagnation in scores.”
The report further explained that there have been general gains in the share of women in senior positions and women in technical roles in most countries. In Guyana, Guatemala, and Uruguay, the report noted that parity has increased among workers in senior roles by at least 10 percentage points.
In the sub-indexes of the report, Guyana was ranked 53 for gender equality in economic participation and opportunity; 57 in educational attainment; number one in health and survival ,and 42 for political empowerment.
The World Economic Forum was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It identifies itself as independent, impartial, and not tied to any special interests.
