The Arab gender gap in the new millennium

Abstract

By the year 2012, the Arab countries suffered from a serious gender gap ranged between 36 and 50%. This wide gender gap is due to several factors that reflected the internal and external milieus. The Arab states succeeded in the process of narrowing down the gap in the health and education spheres, but they obviously failed to do so in the economic and political empowerment. While the economic gender gap reached its peak in the case of Yemen with 49.5%, the lowest women political empowerments (0%) were recorded by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, respectively. In order to describe and analyze the Arab gender gap in the twenty-first century, two independent variables were examined, namely: human development and women empowerment. Theoretically, the gender gap is narrowed down to the maximum by the most human developed countries. But, the data of Human Development Reports (HDRs) and Gender Gap Reports (GGRs) showed that the Arab gender gap is similar in magnitude; therefore, further statistical analysis was required. Statistical analysis of HDRs and GGRs for the year 2012 demonstrated that the Arab Gender Gap (AGG) is more influenced by the level of women empowerment in human development process; thus, the HDIs affected the Gender Gap Index (GGIs) through an intervening variable, namely the Gender Inequality Index (GIIs). Consequently, the Arab states that achieved very high or just high Human Development Index (HDIs) were not necessarily treated women and men equally, especially in the economic and political areas, e.g., Qatar and Saudi Arabia. But, the Arab countries, which exhibited low or medium levels of HDIs and considerable scores of GIIs, succeeded in the process of narrowing down the GGIs to a degree that matched generally the Arab highly or very highly human developed states, e.g., Jordan and Mauritania. Regarding the future of AGG, business as usual scenario is expected to continue, which mean that the Arab states will not be able to change the negative into positive aspects, and shift the threats into opportunities in the near future.

Keywords: Arab countries, Arab gender gap, gender gap index, human development index, gender inequality index.