Nicaragua, Ecuador and Cuba come top in Latin America and the Caribbean with the best scores in the world for life expectancy. The same goes for the enrolment of girls in education (but all three are well down the league table for literacy rates.) However, once women enter the labour market, it’s a very different story.
Nicaragua is ranked number one for women with ministerial positions, but is a lowly 116 for employment and 93 for wage equality. Ecuador does less well on political empowerment but fares better on economic participation. Meanwhile, Cuba outpoints Argentina coming top in the region for political empowerment, largely due to the number of women in parliament.
For more details please see the Global Gender Gap Report 2014
Author: Mark Jones, Commissioning Editor, The World Economic Forum Agenda
Image: Two Colombian girls are pictured before the inauguration of a new police station in La Uribe, Meta province March 12, 2009. REUTERS/Eliana Aponte
