How di world dey perform on gender equality?

According to World Economic Forum (WEF), di picture dey mixed.

Di needle dey move in di right direction, according to Global Gender Gap latest report. But e add say, dis move na small small.

Di report say di rate wey di progress dey take go, e go take 131 years to reach equality between women and men (di report no consider non-binary or oda identities). And no kontri don achieve full gender equality for now.

Although kontris for Europe and North America be like dem dey do beta dan di rest of di world, dem still dey do different kain levels.

United States, for example, dey 43rd position, as di gender gap close reach 75%, behind kontris like Colombia, Belarus, Liberia and Cabo Verde.

Australia (77.8%) dey position number 26, between Mozambique and Chile, and Canada (77%) na 30th position, between Slovenia and Barbados.

Dis report consider different aspects of women life like, economic participation (including gender gaps for salary, employment and leadership positions), educational qualification (wit measures like level of education and admission into school), health and survival (like life expectancy) and political empowerment (female representation for parliament, ministerial positions and years wit male or female head of state).

Based on dis, na which places dey perform di best – and wetin women to say e be like to live dia?

BBC Travel tok to pipo wey dey live plus sabi pipo for di four kontris wey top di list, to beta understand wetin e be like to travel or move go dis kontris.

Iceland

For 14 year back to back now, Iceland dey number one position for WEF rankings, wit im gender gap wey e don close reach 91.2%.

Na di only kontri wey don close di gap pass 90%.

But dis beautiful foto so, depend on wetin you dey exactly torch light.

For WEF report, Iceland rank number one for political empowerment, thanks to di fact say nearly 25 of di last 50 years don see women head of state and say 48% of im parliament members na women, for example.

But e go land number 79 for education and 128 for women health and survival.

Even for di measurements wey Iceland perform well, like di gap for salary, some tin still dey complicated for di mata, Hulda Tolgyes, wey be psychologist from Iceland, tok.

Iceland salary gap between men and women dey small pass di one for most kontris, partly sake of 2018 law wey declare say companies wit more dan 25 employees must to provide equal pay for equal work (or risk to dey pay fines every day).

Still Tolgyes say dem dey offer her lower amount of money for speaking fees dan her husband, even wem dem two get offer from di same company – dis kain incident make her believe say sexual discrimination still dey work.

"E dey very frustrating for me as feminist to see how tins really dey for here," she tok. "We get female president. We get female prime minister. But wetin I dey see na women wey don tire and burn-out women, wey dem tell say dem fit do am all."

Still, Iceland women say, dem still get plenty tins to dey grateful for.

Di kontri First Lady Eliza Reid, wey be Canada emigrant to Iceland, wey write di book Secret of the Sprakkar: Iceland Extraordinary Women and How Dem dey Change di World, say her daughter dey carry her surname and not her papa own and say her husband bin do many months paternity leave for each of dia pikin, for example.

She agree wit Tolgyes, say di kontri still get long way to go – e no be "gender paradise". Still, she write say, na "society wia women dey get di same treatment wit men, or, at least, di intention to do so dey exist".

For pipo of all genders, e get oda benefits to living for Iceland, too: among oda tins, im na one of di world happiest kontris and di most peaceful.

Norway

Norway na second according to WEF 2023 rankings, wit global gender gap wey don close reach 87.9%.

E bin also be number one for di 2021 Women Peace and Security Index.

Dia high performance n be surprise at all, Thea Ringseth, one Norway pesin wey don live for different parts of di kontri, including Oslo and Trondheim, tok.

"Gender equality dey clear for Norway," she explain. "E get many more women wey dey position wey men bin dey usually dey before, like our prime minister, wey for di last eight years na woman, and e get plenty women leaders for gomentplus oda important positions."

In particular, Norway get more women for ministry positions pass any oda kontri.

Outside politics, Norway dey perform particularly well in terms of women education (na number one), di number of women professional and technical workers (also first) and equal pay (number 6 position).

Of course, Norway never still reach 100% gender equality – and e still dey show for di behaviour of pipo for di society.

"Dem expect say if your pikin dey sick, for instance, na usually di mama go stay home," Ringseth tok. "But dis tins no be, I think, especially Norwegian."

Meanwhile, e get di focus on freedom and empowerment for all Norway kontri pipo wey dey important to Ringset.

"As a society, nobody go frown say you dey further your needs, your education, your career, your social, economic needs [as woman]", she tok. "To dey, career-oriented, ambitious – dem dey see am as sometin positive."

New Zealand

New Zealand na number four position for WEF report overall, and dis make am di top performer among kontri wey dey south of di equator.

E dey do particularly well in terms of political representation, as 50% of im parliament members na women, while girls wey register for primary and secondary education dey almost equal wit men.

Jessica Vredenburg, wey from Canada but dey live for New Zealand since 2016, na marketing professor for Auckland University of Technology.

She say: "In my experience, at least for di business school, di gender divide dey almost equal."

she add say, "For our marketing department… we fit even get more women dan men. My dean na woman. Most of my colleagues na women."

She no dey aware of ever getting less dan equal career opportunities than her male counterparts.

Of course, like oda place dem, New Zealand no perfect.

WEF find out say women dey collect average $33,620 per year compared to $52,370 for men, for example. As par equality of salary for equal work, e dey for number 37 position.

Female life expectancy dey poor for number 109 for world.

Di Indigenous Māori pipo dey for particular risk, informate show say Māori women life expectancy dey nearly seven years shorter dan dat of women wey no be Māori.

"My experience fit dey different for pesin wey get Pacific Island or Māori background," Vredenburg say.

Gender equality aside, pipo wey dey live for di area say e get many oda reasons to love to live for New Zealand.

Di beauty of di environment, from di mountains to di beach, na one part. Say e small and easy to go round na anoda.

Den e also get dis overall vibe. "E dey very relaxed, very easy-going, somehow chill.

Dem dey really enjoy dia sport and get togeda – na friends-and-family, barbecue-and-gathering kind of culture wey I dey enjoy," Vredenburg say.

Namibia

Di only Africa kontri for di top 10, Namibia gender gap don close up to 80.2% and dis put am for number eight position.

Dat mean e beta pass many oda kotris for world, including United Kingdom (15th, 79.2%), Spain (18th, 79.1%), Canada (30th, 77%) and United States (43rd, 74.8%).

Di kontri rank make sense to Penohole Brock, one Namibia gender sensitivity trainer for Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation.

"Many of our ministers na women. A lot of our ambassadors na women. And my work colleagues, I go say, no dey face discrimination wen e come to how dem want dia career to be – as par dis level, na very healthy work environment," she tok.

Still, representation na only one part of di gist. "Gender equality na big step in di right direction. But now na time to look at and analyse, 'Okay, but den wetin dis women voicing dey demand for?'," she tok. In terms of gender-based violence and sexual harassment, "we still get long way to go".

Di 2021 Women Peace and Security Index, for example, put Namibia for di 95 position, behind oda Africa kontri including Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa and Ghana.

But Brock, wey dey live for South Africa and Paris, say she no wan live anywia but dia. "Di pipo, di music, di energy – I love am. E dey different. Each region dey different," she tok. "I see so much potential for Namibia. Na wonderful place."