Women, Peace and Security Index

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WPS index 2023 top countries WPS-index 2023.png
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]

Contents

Description

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

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

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

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

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

2017/2018 Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

See also

References

  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.