Filenews 24 October 2022
Its results on the Gender Equality Index for the year 2022 have been published by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).
The Gender Equality Index is a comprehensive measure to monitor progress in the field of gender equality in the EU over time. It gives more visibility to areas in need of improvement and ultimately supports policymakers to design more effective gender equality measures.
The EU average gender equality rose to 68.6% from 68% in 2021. Regarding Cyprus, the gender equality index rose from 57% in 2021 to 57.3%. Cyprus, falling one place in the final ranking of the 27 EU Member States, is ranked 22nd in the Gender Equality Index. Its score is 11.3 points lower than that of the EU.
Since 2010, Cyprus' score has increased by 8.3 points, mainly due to improvements in the power sector (+ 14.7 points). The speed of its progress was above the EU average (5.5 points), resulting in four places in the ranking. However, our country's rating remains virtually unchanged (+ 0.3 points) since 2019. The marginal increase in the overall score since the last edition of the Index is mainly due to improvements in the area of knowledge (+ 1.8 points).
As shown by the analysis of the European Gender Equality Index 2022 for Cyprus, the following are identified:
• Better performance
Cyprus ranks 13th among the Member States in the field of money, with a score of 83.1 points. In this area, the country performs best in the subsector of the economic situation, where it ranks 12th with a score of 91.7 points. Since 2019, Cyprus' money rating has stagnated (+0.5 points). During this period, progress in the subsector of the economic situation (+ 1.9 points) was offset by a decline in the financial resources subsector (- 0.8 points).
• Room for improvement
Gender inequalities are most pronounced in the area of power (30.1 points), where Cyprus ranks 24th. With a score of 22.8 points, the greatest room for improvement exists in the sub-sector of economic decision-making, where Cyprus has a score of 22.8 points and is ranked 24th. However, despite the highest score (34.6 points), in the sub-sector of political decision-making the country occupies the lowest position (26th). The general stagnation of the country in recent years (+ 0.1 points from 2019) is mainly due to the regression in the sub-sector of social decision-making (- 2.0 points), which has cancelled out improvements in the sub-sector of political decision-making (+ 2.3 points).
• Greater improvement
Since 2019, Cyprus' score has improved the most in the area of knowledge (+1.8 points), marking the largest increase among all Member States. As a result, the country climbed six places in the ranking, currently occupying 15th place. This improvement is mainly due to the reduction of segregation in education, which resulted in an increase in the score in this subsector (+ 2.6 points) and an improvement in the ranking of Cyprus from 26th to 20th place.
Compared to the 7 EU - Cyprus thematic areas for the year 2022 in percentages:
Thematic area European Union Cyprus
Work 71.7% - 69.9%
Money 82,6% - 83,1%
Knowledge 62,5% - 57,8%
Time 64.9% - 51.3%
Power 57.2% - 30.1%
Health 88,7% - 87,0%
Violence (Note: as far as the subject area of Violence is concerned, there is no score; Eurostat is currently coordinating an EU-wide survey on gender-based violence, with results expected in 2023).
The above comparison shows, as in the EU, that the area with the lowest score for yet another year is that of power and women's access to decision-making positions, both politically and economically.
Balanced participation in decision-making positions and professional empowerment of women - Reconciliation of professional and family obligations remain among our priorities at national level and are key priority objectives in the new National Action Plan for equality between men and women 2019-2023.
"The biggest challenge is not to wait 60 years to reach full equality between men and women but to continue and strengthen policies so that we can reach the desired results sooner.
But as long as the Gender Equality bodies are scattered, as long as the competent body does not have an administrative structure, sufficient resources and executive power, it is very likely that for Cyprus 60 years will not be enough for full and substantial equality between men and women," a statement said.
