SINGAPORE : Singapore has made significant
improvements in closing the gender gap.
The latest Global Gender Gap Index by the World
Economic Forum ranks Singapore in 56th place, up 28 places from
last year.
The index benchmarks national gender gaps on
economic, political, education and health based criteria of 134
countries.
Second Finance Minister Lim Hwee Hua said women here have much to
cheer about.
Speaking at an SMU conference, she said achievements include a 95
per cent literacy rate among women, and an almost equal
representation of females and males in universities here.
At the second annual "Women in the Community: Sustaining Change"
conference, she also said about one-in-four members of parliament
is a woman.
However, she added that there is more that can still be done.
Many women still leave the workforce for family reasons. This has
led to calls for more flexibility in the workforce for women.
Claire Chiang, chairperson, Shirin Fozdar Trust Fund, said: "Work
can be re-organised if women choose to do part time work or
flexible projects - so that she could at one time take care of a
young family, (and) she could still work to gain financial
independence."
- CNA/al