Croatia is a country with increasing gender inequality

The World Economic Forum, in partnership with the National Council for Competitiveness, has published the “Gender Equality Report” for 2015.

The report includes 145 countries and aims to set standards and monitor gender equality across four key areas: economic, political, educational, and health. Croatia ranks 59th (score 0.708) out of 145 countries.

Iceland is the most advanced country in the world in terms of gender equality, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Ireland. Croatia was best ranked in 2007 when it held the 16th position (score 0.721) out of 128 countries, and in 2014 it was at the 55th position (score 0.707) out of 142 countries.

One of the important determinants of a country’s competitiveness is the talent/skills and productivity of the workforce. The development of an organization is determined by human capital and its ability to utilize this resource effectively. Since women make up half of the world’s population, they deserve equal access to healthcare, education, political participation, and economic involvement as men.

The report measures the size of the gender gap in four areas:

– Economic participation and opportunities – wages, participation, and leadership
– Education – access to primary and higher levels of education
– Political empowerment – representation in decision-making structures
– Health and survival – life expectancy and sex ratio

The results are interpreted as the percentage of the gap that has been reduced/closed between women and men, allowing countries to compare their current performance against their past efforts. The index is designed to focus on measuring the gap/difference between genders in these four areas, rather than the level of development of the country in each area.

The 2015 report includes 145 countries, of which 109 have been included since 2006. The report shows that no country has achieved full gender equality. Unfortunately, the report indicates that Croatia is one of the countries in the region (Europe and Central Asia) with the largest decline in the overall index compared to 2006. Croatia, along with Sri Lanka, Jordan, Mali, and Slovakia, has increased the gender gap over the last 10 years.