Beirut, April 16 A new report released on Wednesday by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) reveals a significant gap in labour force participation between males and females in the Arab region.
Dubbed 'Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, A gender snapshot of the Arab region 2024', the report said that only one in five women in the region is employed or seeking employment, compared to the global average of 49 per cent.
Women in the region continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of unpaid domestic and care work, spending 4.7 times more hours per day on it than men.
"At current pace, it will take a staggering 115 years to close the gap in labour force participation between females and males," the report said.
According to the report, 29.4 million girls in the Arab states were married before age 18.
The report also revealed some progress in advancing the empowerment of women and girls in the region.
It said that women now hold 18 per cent of parliamentary seats, a significant increase from a decade ago, and maternal mortality declined by 45 per cent, from 246 to 139 deaths per 100,000 live births between 2000 and 2020.
Additionally, 5.5 million more girls are completing each level of education from primary to lower secondary compared to 2015, Xinhua news agency reported. The gender gap in primary education completion rates has narrowed to 3 percentage points, and girls in secondary school have outperformed boys, with a 68 per cent completion rate compared to 66 per cent for boys.
In the labour market, 23 per cent of employed women in the region hold jobs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
The report called for a renewed regional consensus to accelerate efforts toward closing the gender gap and advancing the rights and empowerment of all women and girls.
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