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Women, Peace and Security Index

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WPS index 2023 top countries

The Women, Peace and Security Index (WPS) scores and ranks countries in terms of women's security, justice, and inclusion.[1] The index is widely used to compare countries as well as their development trends over time.[2][3][4]

Description

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The index is published by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As of October 2023, four indexes have been released.

The researchers use a total of 13 indicators, spanning from employment and education regulations to perceptions of violence and safety.[5] The index takes into account proximity to armed conflict, financial inclusion, share of parliamentary seats, and other parameters.[6] Information is gathered from various sources such as the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Gallup World Poll.[7] Scores are on a scale of 0 to 1.

There are major implications of the WPS reports and scores. The WPS is highly correlated with other indexes, most notably the Human Development Index, the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index, and the Fragile States Index. These correlations demonstrate that when women are doing well in a society, it is also more peaceful, democratic, and prosperous. The WPS score is a more consistent predictor of these features than a country's GDP, indicating that women's rights and gender equality are integral to a country's state. The index also gives insight into specific domains in which every country can improve.

Indicators

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In its initial form, the WPS used 11 indicators across 3 dimensions. In the newest edition from 2023/2024, it used 13 indicators. [8]

Inclusion

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Inclusion is defined as being economic, social, and political. This dimension contains five indicators.

  1. Education, measured as the average number of years of education of women 25 years and older.
  2. Financial inclusion, measured as percentage of women with a bank account (individual or joint).
  3. Employment, measured as a percentage of women between ages 25-64 in the formal or informal workplace.
  4. Cellphone use, measured as women above the age of 15 who have a mobile phone that they can use for personal calls.
  5. Parliamentary representation, measured as percentage of seats held by women.

Justice

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Justice is defined as formal and informal discrimination. This dimension contains four indicators.

  1. Absence of legal discrimination, scored from 0-100 to reflect how the law protects women's opportunities across 35 life and work aspects.
  2. Access to justice, scored from 0-4 based on the extent to which women are able to exercise justice in court without threat to safety.
  3. Maternal mortality, measured as the number of maternal deaths due to pregnancy-related causes per 100,000 live births
  4. Son bias, measured as the number of boys born per 100 girls, with a rate of 1.05 being the highest natural demographic.

Security

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Security is defined as being at the individual, community, and societal levels. This dimension contains four indicators.

  1. Intimate partner violence, measured as the percentage of women whom have had a partner in their lifetime and have experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner in the past 12 months.
  2. Community safety, defined as the percentage of women and girls older than 15 who were polled by Gallup World Poll and answered that they felt safe walking alone where they live.
  3. Political violence targeting women, measured as the number of political violence events against women per 100,000 women.
  4. Proximity to conflict, measured as percentage of women living within 50 kilometers of an armed conflict.

Past Reports

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2017/2018 Report

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The 2017/2018 WPS Report was the inaugural report that debuted the index. It ranked 153 countries, covering more than 98% of the world's population. The top 12 countries all scored at or above 0.845, with top three scorers in order being Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. The bottom dozen countries scored at or below 0.56. There was a larger disparity here, with the bottom three countries in order being Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen, with Syria and Afghanistan both receiving a score of 0.385. In contrast, Iceland's score was 0.886. [9]

2019/2020 Report

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The 2019/2020 WPS Report expanded with additional data to 167 countries. In this report, the top dozen countries all scored above 0.870. The top three in order were Norway, Switzerland, and Finland. The bottom three countries were Yemen, Afghanistan, and Syria. The top scorer, Norway, received a score of 0.904, with the bottom scorer, Yemen, receiving a score of 0.351. This edition of the WPS also added subnational reports for three of the most populous countries (China, India, and Nigeria) to reflect diversity within each.

There were several significant findings of this report. Almost every country, excluding Iceland, scored poorly in at least one dimension. General trends across all countries showed that all three dimensions improved from the 2017/2018 report. However, on individual indicators such as parliamentary representation and employment, progress had stalled. [10]

2021/2022 Report

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The 2021/2022 WPS Report ranked a total of 170 countries. From the 2017 report to the 2021 report, there was a global average increase of 9 percent in WPS scores. 90 countries had an increase of 5 percent or more. The top dozen countries scored at or above 0.879, with the top three in order being Norway, Finland, and Iceland. The bottom three countries were Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen. Syria, the lowest scorer, was given a score of 0.278, compared to the top scorer Norway with 0.922. A notable addition to this report was Palestine, which ranked 160th. The pace of progress slowed dramatically, cut by nearly half compared to the pace from 2017 to 2019, largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. [11]

2023/2024 Report

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The 2023/2024 WPS Report is the most recent. It scored and ranked 177 countries. Four indicators were changed or new in this report, meaning that directly comparing scores from this year to past reports will not be the most accurate measure. Notably, all of the top dozen scoring countries were above 0.9, compared to only four in 2021. All of the lowest dozen countries were below 0.45, compared to only three being below that threshold in 2021. The top three countries were Denmark, Switzerland, and Sweden, with Denmark receiving a score of 0.932. The lowest three countries were Afghanistan, Yemen, and the Central African Republic, with Afghanistan receiving a score of 0.286.

There was again wide disparities between the scores for the three dimensions within many countries, showing that all countries have room for improvement. Additionally, the report found that 600 million women (15% of the world's women) lived within 50 kilometers of an armed conflict in 2022. [12]

Countries

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These are the scores and rankings from the 2023/2024 WPS Report.

Rank Country Score[13]
1  Denmark .932
2   Switzerland .928
3  Sweden .926
4  Finland .924
4  Iceland .924
4  Luxembourg .924
7  Norway .920
8  Austria .911
9  Netherlands .908
10  New Zealand .904
11  Australia .902
11  Belgium .902
13  Estonia .892
13  Ireland .892
15  Singapore .887
16  Lithuania .886
17  Canada .885
18  Czechia .884
19  Portugal .877
20  Latvia .872
21  Germany .871
22  United Arab Emirates .868
23  Japan .866
24  France .864
25  Croatia .862
26  United Kingdom .860
27  Poland .859
27  Spain .859
29  Slovakia .856
30  South Korea .848
31  Malta .846
32  Hungary .835
32  Serbia .835
34  Italy .827
35  Bulgaria .826
36  Slovenia .824
37  United States .823
38  Taiwan .818
39  Georgia .812
39  Hong Kong .812
41  Montenegro .808
42  Romania .800
43  Seychelles .799
44  North Macedonia .798
45  Albania .796
46  Mongolia .794
47  Barbados .779
48  Armenia .772
49  Guyana .769
50  Argentina .768
51  Greece .766
52  Thailand .764
53  Moldova .758
54  Panama .757
55  Bosnia and Herzegovina .754
56  Bahrain .752
56  Russian Federation .752
58  Turkmenistan .750
59  Uruguay .748
60  Costa Rica .743
60  Sri Lanka .743
61  Kuwait .742
63  Cyprus .739
64  Cabo Verde .738
64  Fiji .738
64  Malaysia .738
67  Saudi Arabia .737
68  Chile .736
69  Belarus .733
70  Kazakhstan .729
71  Trinidad and Tobago .721
72  Maldives .720
73  Nicaragua .717
73  Peru .717
75  Oman .715
76  Samoa .711
77  Jamaica .710
78  Viet Nam .707
79  Lao PDR .704
80  Israel .703
80  Qatar .703
82  Bhutan .700
82  China .700
82  Indonesia .700
85  Tonga .697
86  Bolivia .696
87  Suriname .694
88  Puerto Rico .692
89  Paraguay .691
90  Tajikistan .690
91  South Africa .688
92  Jordan .679
93  Mauritius .678
94  Uzbekistan .674
95  Kyrgyzstan .673
96  Tunisia .669
97  Azerbaijan .667
98  Dominican Republic .666
99  Turkey .665
100  Kosovo .664
100  Solomon Islands .664
100  Timor-Leste .664
103  Rwanda .663
104  Botswana .659
105  Belize .657
106  Ecuador .655
107  Tanzania .652
108  Ghana .651
109  Sao Tome and Principe .648
110  Cambodia .645
110  Egypt .645
112    Nepal .644
112  Vanuatu .644
114  Morocco .637
115  Brazil .630
116  Venezuela .628
117  Ukraine .626
118  Algeria .622
119  Equatorial Guinea .619
119  Senegal .619
121  Philippines .612
122  Honduras .610
122  Libya .610
122  Namibia .610
125  Lesotho .605
126  Zimbabwe .604
127  Angola .598
128  India .595
128  Lebanon .595
128  Togo .595
131  Bangladesh .593
131  Gabon .593
132  Colombia .582
134  Mozambique .580
135  Gambia .575
136  Côte d’Ivoire .573
137  Guatemala .569
138  Benin .566
138  El Salvador .566
140  Iran .557
141  Zambia .556
142  Mexico .551
143  Uganda .544
144  Sierra Leone .543
145  Guinea .539
146  Ethiopia .521
146  Malawi .521
148  Comoros .519
149  Kenya .511
150  Congo .507
151  Mauritania .506
152  Madagascar .505
153  Djibouti .504
154  Liberia .500
155  Papua New Guinea .487
156  Guinea-Bissau .483
156  Palestine .483
158  Burkina Faso .481
158  Mali .481
158  Pakistan .481
161  Cameroon .466
162  Nigeria .465
163  Chad .462
164  Sudan .460
165  Myanmar .451
166  Niger .442
167  Haiti .431
168  Iraq .424
169  Somalia .417
170  Eswatini .415
171  Syrian Arab Republic .407
172  Burundi .394
173  South Sudan .388
174  Democratic Republic of the Congo .384
175  Central African Republic .378
176  Yemen .287
177  Afghanistan .286

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Butler, Stuart (25 October 2023). "Where's the best place to be a woman". Geographical. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Norway ranked as best place to be a woman – DW – 10/23/2019". dw.com. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Israel ranks 27th on Women, Peace and Security Index". The Jerusalem Post. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  4. ^ Galloway, Lindsey. "Five countries that are safer for women". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Where in Europe is it best to be a woman?". Euronews. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  6. ^ "This is the best place in the world to be a woman, researchers say". SBS News. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  7. ^ Navarre, Brianna. "Countries Where Women Are Thriving and Struggling". US News. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Women Peace and Security Index". GIWPS. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  9. ^ "WPS Index 2017/18". GIWPS. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  10. ^ "WPS Index 2019/20". GIWPS. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  11. ^ "The 2021 Women, Peace and Security Index". GIWPS. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Women Peace and Security Index". GIWPS. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  13. ^ "2023 Women, Peace & Security Index". GIWPS. Retrieved 28 October 2023.