Switzerland among top 10 countries for promoting gender equality
Gender equality continues to be an uphill slog, but progress is being made.
Keystone / Laurent Gillieron
Gender equality is improving in Switzerland, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) global ranking that saw the Alpine state move back into the top ten of best performing countries.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch/mga
Português
pt
Suíça entre os 10 principais países para a promoção da igualdade de gênero
Switzerland jumped eight places to number ten in the latest edition of WEF’s Global Gender Gap reportExternal link, which measures comparative opportunities offered to men and women in society.
The improvement was mainly driven by the increasing number of women elected into Switzerland’s parliament in 2019. But despite introducing new measures to improve equality in the workplace, Switzerland dropped marks for a lack of women in top management positions.
According to other recent studies on the Swiss workplace, women are being given more opportunities than in previous years. But progress is slow, particularly compared to Scandinavian countries.
External Content
Iceland topped the WEF Gender Gap ranking once again this year, followed by Finland, Norway, New Zealand and Sweden.
The report authors warn that the coronavirus pandemic has put back some of the progress that has been made in recent years. Total gender equality is now estimated to need 135.6 years at the current rate, compared to 95 years forecast before the pandemic began.
This is because jobs that are mainly held by women have been worst affected by lockdowns than male dominated work positions.
Related Stories
Popular Stories
More
International Geneva
A Geneva-based global health foundation came close to ‘collapse’. Where were regulators?
Swiss-EU treaties: signatures handed in for Kompass initiative
This content was published on
The committee behind the Compass Initiative submitted the signatures it had collected to the Federal Chancellery on Friday.
This content was published on
Esther Grether has died aged 89. Considered one of Switzerland’s leading entrepreneurs, the owner of the Basel-based Doetsch Grether Group was also a major shareholder in the Swatch Group and an art collector.
This content was published on
The flag of the Swiss Wrestling Federation has been received at the start of the Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival in Mollis, canton Glarus.
Figurine heads in Zurich school not considered discriminatory
This content was published on
The 16 carved figurine heads in the auditorium of the Hirschengraben school building in Zurich are not discriminatory, according to an independent expert report.
Swiss political parties report income of CHF22.4 million for 2024
This content was published on
Ten parties reported income totalling CHF22.4 million for 2024, less than in the 2023 election year. The reports are based on the regulations for transparency in political financing.
Swiss focus on equal pay and gender equality in New York
This content was published on
At the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Switzerland is focusing on women’s economic independence, sexual and reproductive health rights, and the fight against violence.
This content was published on
In two-thirds of cases, the workplace harassment originates from men. Women are the aggressors in 15 per cent of cases and mixed gender groups are responsible for the remainder. The research, the first to cover men and women at a national level, was carried out for the Federal Gender Equality Office and the State Secretariat…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.