T&T 3rd best Commonwealth country to be born a girl: Report

A new gender equality report published on Monday by the Royal Commonwealth Society and Plan UK says Trinidad and Tobago ranks 3rd among the 54 Commonwealth countries, to be born a girl.

The country outranks Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, three of the largest and most developed nations within the Commonwealth.

The report puts New Zealand at number one, with Barbados taking second place. India and Pakistan both score poorly, coming in 41st and 45th respectively. Sierra Leone and Nigeria among the worst with both tied for 50th place.

Canada is at number six with the United Kingdom and Singapore jointly holding 8th place. Rwanda – the Commonwealth's newest member state – comes in at number 10.

The research document, which has been put out to mark the Commonwealth’s 2011 theme, ‘Women as Agents of Change’, shows that girls and women continue to be seriously disadvantaged with the Commonwealth.

"Because You’re a Girl: Growing Up in the Commonwealth" compares how well girls and women are doing relative to boys and men in their country using eight indicators, including life expectancy and achievements.

Read the full report: Because you're a Girl...

The report suggests that it is political will – and not economic wealth – which is most important in advancing gender equality.

It notes that some of the poorest countries in the Commonwealth do relatively well against the eight indicators used in the report, while some rich countries remain a long way off gender equality.

Some of its key findings include:

• Five times more girls between the ages of 15 and 19 give birth in Nigeria and Sierra Leone than in New Zealand ; on average and girls in New Zealand can expect twice the number of years in school than girls in Nigeria
• Poverty levels do not always correlate with levels of gender inequality. Rwanda (10th) Mozambique (21st), and Malawi (23rd) all score highly despite being among some of the poorest countries in the Commonwealth
• The Commonwealth's richest country, Brunei Darussalam, only manages a rank of 23rd
• The starkest evidence of gender inequality is revealed by the pay gap indicator

Even in the best performing countries, women only earn around four-fifths of male income on average. In New Zealand women only earn around 72 per cent of the average income and there are still twice as many men in New Zealand's Parliament as women.

Despite decades of campaigning in Western Commonwealth countries, Rwanda and South Africa top the female political participation table. Rwanda ranks first in the world in this regard. The United Kingdom ties with Pakistan at joint 17th.

Director of the Royal Commonwealth Society, Dr Danny Sriskandarajah expressed concern over the findings of the report.

"Even the countries at the top of the Commonwealth class fall short of true gender equality. I hope Commonwealth leaders will show the political leadership that is needed to promote women as agents of change. This year, the Commonwealth has the opportunity to be at the vanguard of the fight for gender equality,” he said.

Chief Executive of Plan UK, Marie Staunton said, “Our research shows that in those Commonwealth countries that have shown bold political will, there has been great progress towards realising girls’ rights, lifting them out of poverty.

“But my message to the Commonwealth today is that much more needs to be done. Globally 75 million girls remain out of school and robbed of a fulfilling future. Often undervalued and neglected, and held back by their gender and age, girls are prevented from contributing to the societies in which they live. This holds us all back.

“Plan UK’s ‘Because I am a Girl’ campaign challenges each of us to take practical action towards a Commonwealth and a world in which every girl can fulfil their potential,” she said.