World Economic Forum in Davos Recognizes Sri Lanka's Asanga as a Young Global Leader

06th March 2012, www.dailynews.lk

During the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this year, 192 exceptional individuals from around the world received their official nomination as Young Global Leaders. Asanga Abeyagoonasekera was selected from Sri Lanka as an emerging young global leader.

This new global undertaking, “The Forum of Young Global Leaders”, brings together outstanding leaders, aged 40 years or younger, who have committed to devote their knowledge and energy over the next five years to collectively work towards a better future.

The Selection Committee, chaired by Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, has chosen the candidates after carefully screening the profiles of thousands of young leaders from every region of the world and from a myriad of disciplines and sectors.

Reflecting the diversity of stakeholders, the Young Global Leaders nominated in 2012 comprise political leaders, ministers and parliamentarians. The nominees from the business sector mostly included chief executive officers and successful entrepreneurs. The other stakeholders consist of intellectual leaders, societal leaders, active opinion leaders and cultural leaders. Asanga is presently the Executive Director of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS), the premier national think tank of Sri Lanka.

He was the Chairman of the Fishery Harbours Corporation from 2005-2010 and Chairman of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency from 2010-2011. Prior to working in the government sector, he was in the telecommunications sector. Asanga has an MBA and B.Sc. from Australia, Executive Education from Harvard, and he is a Golden Key International Scholar for his outstanding academic excellence.


List of 2012 Young Global Leaders Honourees

Global Gender Gap Report 2010 by World Economic Forum, Sri Lanka Retains the Same Rank as in 2009

12th October 2010, www.guardian.co.uk, By Randeep Ramesh

The gender gap is narrowing across the globe, with large parts of the world moving towards greater equality between the sexes in terms of pay, education, health and political representation, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.

Nordic nations, longtime champions of an equal society, topped the list with Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden demonstrating "great equality between men and women" in the forum's Global Gender Gap Index.

Of the countries surveyed, 59% narrowed the gap in the past year. Denmark, the Philippines, the UK and Sri Lanka stayed at the same ranks as in 2009, keeping them in the top 20.

Although Iceland, rated the best nation for gender equality in the world, has seen its economic wealth shattered by recession, the government is committed to levelling society further and introduced laws this year to force companies with more than 50 staff to ensure their management is made up of at least 40% women by September 2013.

In Nordic nations, women live longer, have high employment rates and often enjoy generous maternity and paternity schemes.

There are more than 1.5 women for every man enrolled in tertiary education.

Gender equality, claim the report's authors, boosts growth in both rich and poor countries. The report warned that while gaps were narrowing between men's and women's health and education, women were still left out of the labour market – including salaried and skilled jobs.

Klaus Schwab, the chairman of the WEF, said: "Low gender gaps are directly correlated with high economic competitiveness.

Women and girls must be treated equally if a country is to grow and prosper.

"We still need a true gender equality revolution, not only to mobilise a major pool of talent both in terms of volume and quality, but also to create a more compassionate value system within all our institutions."

The developing world had some notable success stories. Lesotho, the Philippines and South Africa were more equal than the UK, which was 15th in the global list. Lesotho, which rose two places to 8th, is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa to have no gender gap in either education or health.

The emerging economic giants in Asia had some way to go. China dropped a place to 61st because of the prevalence of female foeticide – aborting baby girls because of a cultural preference for boys. This has been exacerbated by the country's one-child policy and the report noted that China's sex ratio at birth fell this year from 0.91 to 0.88 girls for every boy.

India fares even worse at 112th with the report warning that "persistent health, education and economic participation gaps will be detrimental to (the country's) growth". The bottom three spots this year went to Pakistan at 132nd, followed by Chad and Yemen at 134th.

The US rose to 19th, jumping 12 positions, in part because women now occupy a third of the top jobs in president Barack Obama's administration, compared to a quarter in the last government.

There was also a rise in income for American women to almost $35,000 (£22,000) from more than $25,000. While the UK performs well in education and health, its male-to-female ratios in politics and the workforce are low. In terms of wages the UK ranks 78th out of the 134 countries.

The poorest performer in the richer democracies appears to be France. It ranks 46th, trailing much poorer nations such as Kazakhstan and Jamaica, and has fallen 28 places since last year due largely to a fall in the number of women in politics despite legislation that requires equal numbers of both sexes on political parties' lists of candidates. mandates that both sexes must be equally represented as candidates on political party lists.

Sri Lanka Ranks 16th in Global Gender Gap Rankings 2009 by World Economic Forum

28th October 2009, www.bloomberg.com

The following table ranks countries by the gender gap between men and women in four areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment and health and survival.

The report for 2009 is from the World Economic Forum, based in Geneva.

=============================================================================
2009 Country Rank Overall Score, 2009/8 Rank Change, Economics Rank, Education Rank, Health Survival Rank, Political Rank
==============================================================================
1. Iceland 82.76% 3 16 1 101 1
2. Finland 82.52% 0 15 1 1 2
3. Norway 82.27% -2 8 26 56 3
4. Sweden 81.39% -1 6 39 79 4
5. New Zealand 78.80% 0 7 1 72 7
6. South Africa 77.09% 16 61 43 70 5
7. Denmark 76.28% 0 20 1 102 11
8. Ireland 75.97% 0 43 1 86 8
9. Philippines 75.79% -3 11 1 1 19
10. Lesotho 74.95% 6 4 1 1 34
11. Netherlands 74.90% -2 49 51 75 10
12. Germany 74.49% -1 37 49 60 13
13. Switzerland 74.26% 1 48 88 59 12
14. Latvia 74.16% -4 14 1 1 31
15. United Kingdom 74.02% -2 35 1 72 22
16. Sri Lanka 74.02% -4 100 68 1 6
17. Spain 73.45% 0 91 56 80 9
18. France 73.31% -3 62 1 1 16
19. Trinidad&Tobago 72.98% 0 44 58 1 27
20. Australia 72.82% 1 19 1 78 39
21. Barbados 72.36% 5 5 1 1 67
22. Mongolia 72.21% 18 1 1 1 100
23. Ecuador 72.20% 12 78 45 1 21
24. Argentina 72.11% 0 90 57 1 14
25. Canada 71.96% 6 10 38 60 62
26. Mozambique 71.95% -8 3 126 62 15
27. Costa Rica 71.80% 5 85 48 1 20
28. Bahamas* 71.79% n/a 2 1 1 109
29. Cuba 71.76% -3 89 1 74 18
30. Lithuania 71.75% -6 18 54 41 54
31. United States 71.73% -3 17 1 40 61
32. Namibia 71.67% -1 32 85 108 38
33. Belgium 71.65% -4 65 71 55 29
34. Belarus 71.41% 0 29 75 41 46
35. Guyana* 71.08% n/a 86 41 1 28
36. Moldova 71.04% -14 26 63 41 64
37. Estonia 70.94% 2 36 37 41 50
38. Bulgaria 70.72% 0 40 66 41 42
39. Botswana 70.71% 26 22 27 124 66
40. Uganda 70.67% 5 28 111 69 30
41. Kyrgyzstan 70.58% 2 46 59 1 43
42. Austria 70.31% -11 103 78 1 23
43. Panama 70.24% -7 51 52 1 52
44. Peru 70.24% 6 77 89 91 33
45. Israel 70.19% 13 41 50 98 53
46. Portugal 70.13% -5 53 76 80 47
47. Kazakhstan 70.13% 0 12 42 41 102
48. Jamaica 70.13% -2 21 1 96 93
49. Nicaragua 70.02% 24 105 1 65 25
50. Poland 69.98% 1 72 33 41 40
51. Russia 69.87% -7 24 29 41 99
52. Slovenia 69.82% 1 31 36 80 87
53. Macedonia 69.50% 2 60 79 115 44
54. Croatia 69.44% -6 70 55 41 49
55. El Salvador 69.39% 5 99 81 1 32
56. Colombia 69.39% -4 39 28 1 84
57. Uruguay 69.36% -1 63 1 1 58
58. Uzbekistan 69.13% -1 9 100 64 97
59. Thailand 69.07% -5 30 62 1 105
60. China 69.07% -1 38 87 130 60
61. Ukraine 68.96% 3 33 31 41 117
62. Honduras 68.93% -13 88 1 1 41
63. Luxembourg 68.89% 5 74 1 80 57
64. Chile 68.84% 3 112 44 1 26
65. Hungary 68.79% -3 56 64 41 81
66. Paraguay 68.68% 36 59 40 1 85
67. Dominican Rep. 68.59% 7 68 1 1 73
68. Slovakia 68.45% -2 69 1 1 75
69. Venezuela 68.39% -8 81 34 1 63
70. Romania 68.05% 2 34 70 41 126
71. Viet Nam 68.02% -1 25 108 97 72
72. Italy 67.98% -3 96 46 88 45
73. Tanzania 67.97% -33 52 115 105 37
74. Czech Rep. 67.89% -3 71 1 41 91
75. Japan 67.69% 25 54 84 41 110
76. Gambia 67.52% 11 23 119 1 68
77. Malawi 67.38% 6 42 113 116 48
78. Madagascar 67.32% -2 45 98 1 108
79. Suriname 67.26% 2 102 74 80 51
80. Cyprus 67.06% -2 83 61 114 80
81. Ghana 67.04% -2 13 112 111 101
82. Brazil 66.95% -7 76 32 1 114
83. Bolivia 66.93% -1 95 91 112 56
84. Georgia 66.80% 0 55 82 131 103
85. Singapore 66.64% 1 58 102 121 86
86. Greece 66.62% -9 87 60 57 94
87. Tajikistan 66.61% 4 27 114 58 96
88. Belize 66.36% 0 80 35 1 121
89. Malta 66.35% -4 106 47 77 69
90. Azerbaijan 66.26% -27 47 94 132 119
91. Armenia 66.19% -11 57 29 133 123
92. Albania 66.01% -3 64 73 122 125
93. Indonesia 65.80% 2 101 95 87 70
94. Bangladesh 65.26% -2 121 105 127 17
95. Brunei 65.24% 6 79 65 113 127
96. Zimbabwe 65.18% -2 82 103 125 83
97. Mauritius 65.13% 0 109 80 1 92
98. Kenya 65.12% -8 50 106 110 122
99. Mexico 65.03% 0 114 90 1 65
100. Maldives 64.82% -7 98 1 126 112
101. Malaysia 64.67% -3 104 77 103 113
102. Senegal* 64.27% n/a 75 124 76 59
103. Fiji* 64.14% n/a 111 72 1 115
104. Cambodia 64.10% -6 66 117 1 98
105. Kuwait 63.56% 0 107 86 116 124
106. Angola 63.53% 12 97 127 1 36
107. Zambia 63.10% 3 94 116 116 82
108. Nigeria 62.80% -2 84 123 109 89
109. Tunisia 62.33% -2 123 97 100 77
110. Nepal 62.13% 14 116 125 123 35
111. Guatemala 62.09% 5 115 101 1 118
112. UAE 61.98% -3 126 67 116 76
113. Jordan 61.82% -5 122 83 94 111
114. India 61.51% 3 127 121 134 24
115. South Korea 61.46% -3 113 109 80 104
116. Bahrain 61.36% 9 118 69 116 131
117. Algeria 61.19% -2 119 99 91 120
118. Cameroon 61.08% 3 108 122 106 95
119. Mauritania 61.03% -5 117 120 1 71
120. Burkina Faso 60.81% -1 73 129 98 88
121. Syria 60.72% -10 120 104 68 116
122. Ethiopia 59.48% 4 92 130 106 74
123. Oman 59.38% -1 128 93 95 128
124. Morocco 59.26% 5 125 118 90 90
125. Qatar 59.07% -2 129 53 129 130
126. Egypt 58.62% 2 124 107 89 129
127. Mali 58.60% -14 93 131 104 78
128. Iran 58.39% -8 131 96 63 132
129. Turkey 58.28% -2 130 110 93 107
130. Saudi Arabia 56.51% 2 133 92 65 134
=============================================================================
* New Country
** 100 score is full equality and 0 is total inequality

Source: World Economic Forum

To contact the reporter on this story: Jay Wang in Singapore at jwang298@bloomberg.net