全球性別平等度排名 冰島居首

Iceland and three other Nordic countries lead the world in gender equality, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The United States, which prides itself on civil rights progress during the past half century, fell four spots from last year to stand at 31st place behind Lithuania and ahead of Namibia, according to the World Economic Forum, a nonprofit group based in Switzerland.

The report ranked countries according to how much they reduced gender disparities based on economic participation, education, health and political empowerment while attempting to strip out the effects of a nation's overall wealth.

Iceland, which has been rocked by financial crisis, rose from fourth place overall a year ago to top the list and was followed by Finland, Norway and Sweden. New Zealand came in fifth.

Commenting on the low US position, Melanne Verveer, US ambassador-at-large for global women's issues, said at the launch of the report in New York: "In many ways we've been a model ... but we also have a ways to travel."

"Obviously I think every country wants to do better. It's worth pointing out that no country has equality between men and women so we have a long road to go no matter where we live."

Pulling down the United States was its poor performance in political empowerment, where it ranked a lowly 61.

The Nordic countries excelled in this area, with Iceland again taking top honors.

Yemen was ranked lowest at 134, behind Chad and Pakistan.

"Out of the 115 countries covered in the report since 2006, more than two-thirds have posted gains in overall index scores, indicating that the world in general has made progress toward equality," co-author Ricardo Hausmann said in a statement.

The Nordic countries traditionally have been known for generous social benefits, and the high-ranking nations have made it easier to balance work and family life, the report said.

"When we look at the economic participation variables, it's clear that this country (Iceland) has managed to remove the barriers to women participating in the workplace," said Saadia Zahidi, the report's co-author.

The report is based on data that is between one and three years old, Zahidi said. Sources included the International Labor Organization, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Development Program.

本週二發佈的一項報告顯示，冰島和其它三個北歐國家的性別平等程度居全球之首。

據世界經濟論壇發佈的報告稱，以在過去半個世紀民權進步爲自豪的美國今年下滑四個榜位，名列第31位，立陶宛和納米比亞分列之前和之後。世界經濟論壇總部位於瑞士，是一個非贏利組織。

該報告根據各國在經濟參與、教育、健康和參與政治等方面所做出的消除性別差異的努力編撰而成。同時，調查還排除了國家整體實力的影響。

受經濟危機重創的冰島從去年的第四位升至榜首。芬蘭、挪威、瑞典位居其後，新西蘭名列第五。

該報告於當天在紐約發佈，美國全球婦女問題特使梅蘭妮•韋維爾在發佈會上就美國此次排名靠後發表了看法。她說：“我們在很多領域都做出了表率，但仍然還有很長的路需要走。”

“很明顯，各國都想做得更好。需要指出的是，沒有哪個國家實現了男女平等，因此不管我們身在何處，都有很長的路要走。”

美國在女性參政方面表現不佳，僅列第61位，拉低了總排名。

而北歐各國在該領域表現出衆，冰島在該項名列榜首。

也門排名最低，名列第134位，乍得和巴基斯坦分列最後第二和第三位。

報告的撰寫人之一里卡多•豪斯曼在一份聲明中稱：“在2006年該報告所覆蓋的115個國家中，超過三分之二的國家在總體得分上有所提高。這表明總的來說，全世界在性別平等方面取得了進步。”

該報告稱，北歐國家向來以優厚的社會福利著稱，排名較高的國家的居民能夠更好地平衡工作和家庭生活。

報告的另外一位撰寫人薩迪亞•扎西迪說：“從經濟參與的變量可以明顯地看出，該國（冰島）已經成功消除了女性在工作參與方面的障礙。”

扎西迪稱，該報告主要基於過去一到三年的數據。數據資料來源於國際勞工組織、世界衛生組織和聯合國開發計劃署。

Vocabulary:

strip out：去除，剔除

ambassador-at-large：a diplomat of the highest rank or a minister who is accredited to represent his country internationally（特使，巡迴大使）