WASHINGTON: Pakistan is at the bottom of the rung when it comes to equal rights and economic opportunities for women, according to a survey released by the World Economic Forum. The Switzerland-based forum, which organises a conference of world leaders in different areas every year, measured the gender performance of countries in terms of economic participation, educational attainment, political empowerment and health and survival. Pakistan came out among the last five, being bracketed with Nepal, Chad, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

On a scale of 0 to 1, zero being inequality, and one being equality, Pakistan scored 0.54 while the best performing country, Sweden, scored 0.81. In terms of economic participation and opportunity, Pakistan stood at 100 out of the 115 countries surveyed. In terms of educational attainment, it was at the 109th position, for purposes of political empowerment, it was 102 and in health and survival terms, it was slotted at 111. The top performing countries were, in that order, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Germany, the Philippines, New Zealand and Denmark. khalid hasan‘No discrimination against women’
Source: Daily Times
Date:12/13/2006