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Switzerland climbs equality ladder

A major report on gender equality has ranked Switzerland tenth in the world, up three places from last year.

The Gender Gap Report 2010, published on Tuesday by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum, put Nordic countries in the first four positions, with Iceland topping the list.

Switzerland is preceded in the rankings by Lesotho and the Philippines.

The study looked at equality issues including salaries, access to education and training and political participation as well as health and life expectancy in 134 countries.

Switzerland was found to have improved as far as women’s involvement in politics is concerned, but still has a wage gap, and women are poorly represented in higher positions in the economy and management.

The information was collected in July, before the Swiss parliament elected a fourth woman to the cabinet, giving it a female majority for the first time.

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