Armenia improves its position in World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law report
YEREVAN, March 2. /ARKA/. Armenia has significantly improved its position in the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law report, having scored 87.5 points, up from 82.5 points in the previous report.
Armenia’s position has improved due to the introduction of paternal leave for fathers,” the press service of the WB Yerevan Office said.
Among other post-Soviet countries, only the Baltic countries and Georgia are ahead of Armenia. Moldova has as many points as Armenia - 87.5.
The Women, Business and the Law 2022 measures laws and regulations across 190 countries in eight areas impacting women’s economic participation – mobility, workplace, pay, marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets, and pensions. The data offer objective and measurable benchmarks for global progress toward gender equality.
Armenia has the highest score of 100 points in 5 out of 8 areas – mobility, marriage, parenthood, assets and pensions. Its score in wages and entrepreneurial activity is 75 points, and 50 in workplace.
Twelve advanced economies are the world’s only economies that score 100 – Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. The outsiders are the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (26.3), Yemen (26.9), Sudan and Qatar (29.4 each), as well as Iran (31.3).
According to the report, around 2.4 billion women of working age are not afforded equal economic opportunity and 178 countries maintain legal barriers that prevent their full economic participation.
In 86 countries, women face some form of job restriction and 95 countries do not guarantee equal pay for equal work.
Globally, women still have only three quarters of the legal rights afforded to men -- an aggregate score of 76.5 out of a possible 100, which denotes complete legal parity.
However, despite the disproportionate effect on women’s lives and livelihood from the global pandemic, 23 countries reformed their laws in 2021 to take much-needed steps towards advancing women’s economic inclusion, according to the report.-0-
