Rabat – Morocco’s position in the Global Gender Gap Index 2023 rankings has highlighted significant challenges facing the country in achieving gender equality. With a score of 0.621, the country was ranked 136th out of 146 countries surveyed, demonstrating a decline of -0.003 compared to previous rankings.
This decline places Morocco with countries like Iran and Afghanistan, which also face substantial gender disparities.
Notably, Morocco, along with Egypt and Algeria, has been experiencing consistent declines in its parity scores since the last edition of the index.
According to the World Economic Forum’s annual Gender Gap Report 2023, if progress continues at the current rate, it will take approximately 152 years to achieve full regional parity. This highlights the urgent need for action to address gender gaps in the region.
In comparison to other regions, the MENA region remains the furthest from gender parity, with a score of 62.6%. This represents a 0.9 percentage-point decline since the last edition of the index, based on the consistent sample of countries covered since 2006.
The United Arab Emirates, Israel, and Bahrain have achieved the highest parity in the region, while Morocco, Oman, and Algeria rank the lowest.
Examining specific dimensions of gender equality, Morocco’s performance in economic participation and opportunity was particularly concerning, as it ranked 141st with a score of 0.404.
In terms of educational attainment, Morocco ranked 115th with a score of 0.953. The most populous countries in the region such as Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt, exhibited the lowest levels of gender parity in educational attainment and literacy rates.
Morocco also faced challenges in the health and survival index, ranking 130th with a score of 0.961.
Meanwhile, the country ranked 90th in the political empowerment index, scoring 0.165
The Middle East and North Africa region still lags behind in political empowerment, with a regional parity of only 14%.
The report highlighted that, apart from Tunisia and Israel, no country in the region has had a female head of state in the last 50 years.
Additionally, ministerial positions held by women are low in most countries, with only Tunisia, Bahrain, and Morocco having more than 20% of their ministers be female.
Notably, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon still have all-male cabinets, in addition to significant gender disparities in political representation.
The Global Gender Gap Index serves as an annual benchmark for measuring gender parity in four key dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
Since its inception in 2006, the index tracked the progress and efforts of numerous countries in closing gender gaps over time.
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