Malta has again ranked 83rd place in The Global Gender Gap Index 2011. This is the same ranking as in 2010, however last year there were 134 countries listed. This year there were 135 countries covered, showingMalta’s position has actually fallen in its ranking. The countries ranked below Malta include Armenia, Hungary, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Tajikistan and Turkey.
Malta has been falling in its ranking since 2006 when it stood at the 71st place. The worst year ever between 2006 and 2011 was 2009 when the ranking fell to 88th place.
The worst showing, as in previous years, was under the Economic Participation and Opportunity section where Malta was ranked 110th falling six places from the 104th in 2010.
The Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations (MCWO) expresses its concern at the lack of progress being made in reaching the government’s objective of ensuring de facto equality in Maltese society in line with United Nations and European Union commitments. Highlighted are the contrasting positions registered in this Index where under Educational Attainment Malta has again been ranked in the first place whilst the overall ranking stood at 83rd place.
In spite of the number of incentives introduced to attract women to the labour market and the slow increase in women’s participation rate,Malta is still falling back in this sector when compared to other countries on a global basis. This means that, as MCWO has highlighted on several occasions,Malta is not benefitting fully from the considerable investment being made in education to the detriment of our economy.
The Government seems to be aware that the incentives in place to date have not been effective enough and need revisiting so that they may be more focused on parents’ needs, particularly those of single parents. A step in the right direction was Government’s commitment to extend maternity leave from 14 to 18 weeks over a two year period. Government is, for the first time, taking on the financing of this incentive. This was one of the proposals the MCWO submitted to the Finance Ministry in its Budget proposals. MCWO sees this incentive as a positive step that should result in an upgrade ofMalta’s ranking in the Global Gender Gap Index in the coming years.
The third sector covered by this Index is Health and Survival where Malta has kept its place at 72nd ranking. However, under Political Empowerment, the fourth sector analysed, Malta has lost one place and fallen from 51st to 52nd place. In the political sphere, women are visible by their low numbers. This is also very true in decision-making levels where women make up only 3% of appointments to board rooms.
In January 2010, the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, during a visit to Malta, is reported to have highlighted the fact that Malta was the only country among the 27 EU member states that did not have women MEPs. Prof Buzek argued that half the candidates should be women, and pointed out that in Sweden, 65% of MPs are women.
In March 2010, the EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding challenged publicly listed companies in Europe to sign a “Women on the Board Pledge forEurope” by March 2012. This pledge represents a voluntary commitment by publicly listed companies to increase women’s presence on corporate boards to 30% by 2015 and to 40% by 2020.
Reding declared at the time that “If this has happened by March 2012, I will congratulate the European business world. If it has not happened, you can count on my regulatory creativity” referring to the introduction of quotas. It is not known what actions Malta is undertaking to reach the target set by Commissioner Reding.
In a report issued by the United Nations in October 2010, the Government of Malta was asked to make use of temporary special measures, under various forms, in those areas where women are under-represented or in a disadvantageous position and to allocate more resources, where necessary, to accelerate the process of the advancement of women.
This recommendation is very much in line with Article 45 (11) of the Constitution of Malta that “…. provides for the taking of special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women, ….”
The MCWO whilst noting recent developments, particularly the extension of maternity leave, looks forward to other government initiatives that will help to raiseMalta’s rating to a respectable placing in the Global Gender Gap Index.
Renee Laiviera
Chairperson
