Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 24 July (BelTA) - Belarus is among 16 countries where women's human development index is equal to or exceeds that of men’s, reads the new UNDP National Human Development Report 2007-2014, BelTA has learned.

The gender development index (GDI) introduced in the 2014 Human Development Report, which measures the level of the gender gap between women and men in 148 countries, shows that the women's development index is equal to or exceeds that of men in 16 countries (Argentina, Barbados, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Uruguay, Sweden, Finland and Estonia). "In some countries, this may be due to the higher educational level of women, and the fact that the life expectancy of women is significantly higher than that of men," the report said.

The overall gender gap is an 8% deficit for women, the income gap is shockingly high - per capita income for men is more than double that for women.

On 24 July the United Nations released the Human Development Report 2014 where Belarus is placed 53rd among 187 nations. Belarus holds the leading position in the group of countries with the high human development index. The Russian Federation is in the same group of countries ranking 57th, Kazakhstan 70th, Azerbaijan 76th, Ukraine 83 rd, Armenia 87th. The third group of countries with the medium level of human development includes Turkmenistan (103rd), Moldova (114th), Uzbekistan (116th), Kyrgyzstan (125th), and Tajikistan (133rd).

The UNDP has published annual global human development reports since 1990 as an independent and empirically sound analysis of trends, progress and development policies. The report, entitled "Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience" highlights the need for both promoting people's choices and protecting human development achievements. It takes the view that vulnerability threatens human development, and unless it is systematically addressed, by changing policies and social norms, progress will be neither equitable nor sustainable.