Sweden and Central African Republic, the best and worst countries for women

CEOWORLD, the magazine of business and world business leaders, recently published the annual ranking of the best countries for women.

The survey of almost 256,700 women worldwide, classified 156 countries and 10 of them obtained the highest scores when evaluating 9 attributes such as gender equality, percentage of legislative seats occupied by women, sense of security, income, equality, human rights, empowerment, education and inclusion in working life and their remuneration.

The evaluation according to the attributes that value the possibility of women to live in safe countries and with conditions of equity, ranked the Scandinavian countries in the first echelons and the Central African Republic closed the list as one of the countries with the lowest scores .

"There is no doubt that women participate more and have relatively more freedom to rise and shine in the modern era, but the rate of progress is very slow, especially in third world countries," explains CEOWORLD magazine, author of the annual report.

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In simple terms and according to the analysis of the publication, half of the world population lives with a feeling of insecurity, and it is difficult to make this world a better place with half the population living in fear. If you compare the level of empowerment of women around the world, measured in terms of security, justice and inclusion, the survey results show European countries, especially Scandinavian countries, as the best places for women. In contrast, some developed countries are still far behind in the race to create a holistic ecosystem for women to prosper freely, and others definitely do not consider them to be an important part of society.

The list is led by Sweden with a score of 99.7 as the best country in the world for women, Somalia and the Central African Republic are the countries with the lowest scores, 14.68 and 12.93 respectively.

The ten countries with the highest scores are:

1. Sweden- 99.7
2. Denmark- 99.4
3. Netherlands- 99.2
4. Norway- 98.7
5. Canada- 98.3
6. Finland- 97.5
7. Switzerland – 97.1
8. New Zealand- 96.8
9. France- 96.4
10. Germany – 95.9

Sweden's history shows why the country has empowered women to contribute to their nation from all perspectives.

Laws have defended women since the Middle Ages. In 1250 the first law against gender violence was enacted. In 1845, equal inheritance rights were approved for men and women, and in 1935, equality in pensions.

The political representation of women in Sweden is completely equal. The first Swedish female deputies were elected in 1922 – they acquired the right to vote in 1921 and since 2015 practically the same number of women (82) as men (90) hold leadership positions in the country's government departments and agencies in addition to 46% participation of women in parliament.

In this country, women hold two-thirds of all university degrees, are entitled to a 480-day childcare license shared with their husbands, and a paid government license. More than 80% of Swedish mothers work part-time jobs allowing both activities and teleworking with 58% of companies that allow it in the country according to figures from the Swedish Statistical Institute.

These and other characteristics make Sweden a country that historically advances for equal rights in contrast to the Central African Republic, the country with the lowest score in the ranking.

The Central African Republic is one of the poorest countries in the world, and one of the 10 countries with the least access to education . Women are exposed from childhood to being routinely abused. At the political level, there are quota systems so that women have the right to a political life, and although timidly the opportunities begin to occur allowing the country to have had a female president as Catherine Samba-Panza was in 2014, the opportunities are limited in all areas, starting with the right to education.

In general, for them, access to work continues to be strongly impacted by inequalities, says Amina Belouchi in a study on women's rights and gender equality.

In the case of Africa, many of the difficulties for women begin with out-of-school education, affecting opportunities for them. Among many aspects, women in the Central African Republic become pregnant from 13 to 14 years old, denying them the possibility of complete schooling . Lack of work, maternity leave and public structures dedicated to childcare in the workplace are some of the causes that qualify the Central African Republic as the worst country for women with a score of 12.93 out of 100.

The United States in the ranking is ranked 20 and countries such as Mexico are ranked 38, Brazil at 59, Colombia at 65 and Bolivia at 71 among 156 evaluated countries.