Dominican Republic lags behind in women empowerment

Santo Domingo.- The recent “Pathways to equality: twin indices on women’s empowerment and gender equality” report by UN Women and UNDP reveals that no country has achieved full gender parity, and less than 1% of women and girls live in countries with high levels of female empowerment and a narrow gender gap. The report introduces the Women’s Empowerment Index (WIE) and the Global Gender Parity Index (IGPG) as tools to measure gender parity and women’s empowerment.

The WIE assesses women’s power and freedom to make decisions and access life opportunities across health, education, labor and financial inclusion, decision-making, and violence against women. The IGPG compares men and women’s status in dimensions like health, education, inclusion, and decision-making.

For the Dominican Republic, the IEM value for 2022 indicates medium-low empowerment, trailing 5% behind the Latin American and Caribbean region and 6% behind countries with High Human Development. In terms of the GGPI, the country performs better than the Latin American region (0.771 vs. 0.751), placing it in the upper-middle gender parity group.

The report emphasizes that these indices provide complementary perspectives on understanding and evaluating progress in human development, women’s empowerment, and gender equality. They reveal challenges women face globally and inform policies. Despite progress, women achieve only 60% of their potential (IEM) and 72% of what men achieve (IGPG), indicating a 28% gender gap.

The indices serve as tools for policy formulation, spotlighting areas like health, education, work-life balance, equal participation, and violence prevention. They enable monitoring progress, highlighting differences between countries, and can drive efforts towards a more equitable world.