Knowledge Booster: International Women’s Day and Gender Indices

Subject: Social Issues, Governance, Economy
Relevance: Understanding global gender indices is crucial for UPSC, as these benchmarks assess development across various parameters, providing insights into the progress made in creating a gender-equitable society. These statistics also provide value addition for Mains answers.

Why in the News?

• International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8.

• Emphasis on Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG-5): gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

Key Global Gender Indices

1. Global Gender Gap Index:

   • Published by: World Economic Forum (WEF).

   • Benchmarks: Current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions:

     • Economic Participation and Opportunity

     • Educational Attainment

     • Health and Survival

     • Political Empowerment

   • Index Range: 0 (complete inequality) to 1 (complete parity).

   • Top Rank: Iceland (93.5%) – leading for over a decade. Followed by Finland and Norway.

   • India’s Rank:

     • 129 out of 146 countries (2024).

     • 127 out of 146 countries (2023).

     • Puts India at 18th position from the bottom.

2. Gender Inequality Index (GII):

   • Published by: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in their Human Development Report.

   • Measures: Gender inequalities in three key dimensions:

     • Reproductive Health

     • Empowerment

     • Labor Market

   • Score Range: 0 (women and men fare equally) to 1 (one gender fares as poorly as possible).

   • India’s Rank:

     • 108 out of 193 countries with a score of 0.437 (2022).

     • 122 out of 191 countries with a score of 0.490 (2021).

   • India’s GII value is better than the global (0.462) and South Asian (0.478) averages.

3. Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI):

   • Published by: UNDP.

   • Focus: Understanding the role of social beliefs in obstructing gender equality along four dimensions:

     • Political

     • Educational

     • Economic

     • Physical Integrity

   • Findings:

     • “Close to 9 out of 10 men and women hold fundamental biases against women.”

     • Nearly half believe men make better political leaders, and two of five believe men make better business executives.

   • Percentage of People with Bias in India: 99.22%.

4. Women’s Empowerment Index (WEI):

   • Developed by: UNDP and UN Women.

   • Measures: Level of women’s empowerment across five dimensions:

     • Health

     • Education

     • Inclusion

     • Decision-Making

     • Violence against Women

   • Score Interpretation: Values closer to 1 indicate higher empowerment.

   • India’s Score: 0.52.

5. Global Gender Parity Index (GGPI):

   • Developed by: UNDP and UN Women.

   • Assesses: Status of women’s achievements relative to men’s in four dimensions of human development:

     • Life and Good Health

     • Education, Skill-Building, and Knowledge

     • Labour and Financial Inclusion

     • Participation in Decision-Making

   • Score Interpretation:

     • Below 1: Women perform worse than men.

     • Above 1: Women perform better than men.

   • India’s Score: 0.560.

NITI Aayog SDG Index

• Evaluates progress of states and UTs on various parameters including health, education, gender, economic growth, institutions, climate change, and environment.

• SDG India Index scores range between 0–100 (higher the score, the greater the distance to target achieved).

• Overall, India’s score improved from 36 in 2018 to 49 in 2023-24.

Beyond the Nugget: Gender Budget Statement (GBS)

• Released by the Government of India along with the Union Budget since FY 2005-06.

• Includes schemes across Union ministries and departments with full or part allocations for women and girls.

• Reports a total allocation of Rs 4.49 lakh crore in FY 2025-26 (37% increase from FY 2024-25).

• It is not a separate budget for women, but a reporting/accounting exercise.