Pakistan has been ranked the second worst country in the world for gender equality for the second consecutive year.
According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2016, released on Tuesday, Pakistan ranks 143 out of 144 countries in the gender inequality index, way behind Bangladesh and India which rank 72nd and 87th respectively.
However, war torn Syria performed better than Pakistan with a score of 142.
Pakistan is also the worst performing state in South Asia and has been for the last couple of years, while Sri Lanka ranks 100th, Nepal 110th, the Maldives 115th and Bhutan 121st.
Pakistan, however, performed better in Education Attainment with a score of 135, Health and Survival (124) and Political Empowerment (90). The report observed that there were 70 women parliamentarians in the country and 139 on ministerial positions.
The report featured progress made on the basis of equality between men and women in the aforementioned areas.
In the overall ranking, Iceland took the first spot, followed by Finland and Norway. Interestingly, the United States, with a rank of 45, saw a drop in its rankings owing to decrease on Economic Participation and Opportunity.
In December last year, a UN report said Pakistan ranked 121, better than India and Afghanistan in gender equality. Among South Asian countries, India ranked 130 and fared better than only Afghanistan which was at 152. While Bangladesh ranks 111 of 155.