In the last 5 years, Panama has been advancing committedly in the construction of a more egalitarian society, currently occupying position #40 worldwide presented in the Global Gender Gap Report.
This was announced in the latest 2022 Report carried out periodically by the World Economic Forum.
The Global Gender Gap Report compares the current status and evolution of gender parity across countries, comparing a total sample of 146 countries and providing robust cross-country analysis.
Currently, Panama occupies the #9 position in the Latin American and Caribbean region and #40 worldwide, which means that Panama has managed to close the gender gap by 74.3%.
It should be noted that for the year 2018, Panama was located in position #45, in 2020 in position #46 and in 2021 in position #44, achieving by 2022 being in position #40.
This report has been produced since 2006, and is based on four key dimensions: Opportunity and Economic Participation, Educational Achievement, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.
Compared to the ranking by dimensions, Panama occupies the following positions:
• Health and Survival #62
• Political Empowerment #54
• Educational Achievement #35
• Opportunity and Economic Participation #32
Panama has different actors that promote and carry out different efforts that contribute to closing gender gaps, such as the Gender Parity Initiative (IPG).
At the last ordinary meeting of the National Council for Gender Parity, which is chaired by the Minister of Social Development (MIDES), María Inés Castillo, the report on the results of the 2021 Action Plan was presented, in which more than 135 initiatives, which impacted more than 17,370 women and 892 organizations. They were recorded in work areas such as labor participation, salary gap, leadership and governance.
At a global level, the report concluded that of the 146 countries compared, only one in five managed to close the gender gap by at least 1% in the last year, showing that it will take another 132 years to close the gender gap.
For Panama, although it is true that great progress has been made in the last year to reduce the time it will take to achieve gender parity, this progress must increase to compensate for the setback of an entire generation recorded in 2020-2021 due to the start of the pandemic.
Given this scenario, the government and the private sector must make joint efforts with specific policies to continue promoting the fight for gender equality as a key element to guarantee the well-being of women and society, otherwise we run the risk to permanently erode the achievements made.
The World Economic Forum (World Economic Forum) is an international organization, seeking to improve the economic situation at the international level, providing a collaborative framework for world leaders, where they deal with global issues.
The Global Gender Gap Report is the oldest index tracking progress towards closing gender gaps, comparing the current state and evolution of gender parity.
