I currently live in Norway, which is one of the wealthiest countries in the world - it has among the highest GDP per capita. Recent Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum reveals that Norway also leads the world in closing the gender gap between men and women. I live in the country which provides the most equal opportunities for women in social, political, economical and health terms.Coincidence?
The report shows that by far not. Although not 1:1, there is a very clear evidence of correlation of prosperity of the nation and its ability to close the gap between men and women.
I have recently spoken to one smart Norwegian businessman/traveller/anthropologist (he has probably visited over 100 countries during his life) in his 50s. He said he did not believe the society was able to advance very much on the long run if women were not given opportunity to influence events there. Indeed, women save by nature - social welfare, state harmony, social security - all that is rather typical for females. Conquest, competition and risk - those are words rather typical for men. As one my male friend from Latvia put it in a straightforward way: while women care about agreement and harmony, men simply put their d***s on the tables and start to compare their size.
All in all, it is not that black and white, but I am a firm believer that no society will ever achieve a peace and harmony within itself and with the others unless women there are given opportunity to fully participate in the social, economic and political life of the country.
Interesting: Estonia has 37th rank, Kazakhstan 45th and Croatia 46th rank among 130 countries which have been assessed. Croatia dropped dramatically (I wonder where this drop is coming from?). Kazakhstan scores almost the best in this list among the countries with predominantly Muslim population, which is yet another example of how big potential this country has if things will be led in the right direction.
