Nigeria was ranked 16th out of 177 countries regarding women’s rights in the 2023 Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index report. The report, released in New York, evaluates 13 indicators linked to education, jobs, laws, and organized violence, divided into three categories: inclusion, justice, and security.
According to the report, all the bottom 20 countries, including Nigeria, experienced violent conflicts between 2021 and 2022. Furthermore, 2022 has been identified as the most fatal year for conflict-related deaths since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
According to the rankings, the top five countries for women to live in are Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland.
Conversely, the bottom five countries on the index, the worst for women, include Afghanistan, Yemen, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan.
The WPS Index report was jointly published by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) and the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
In the 2023 index, Nigeria’s ranking dropped to 162 out of 177 countries in terms of women’s inclusion, justice, and security, showing a decline from the 2021/22 edition where Nigeria was ranked 130 out of 170 countries.
The new index introduced a Political Violence Targeting Women (PVTW) indicator within the security dimension, and Nigeria is among the five countries with the most PVTW events in 2022.
These events included actions by armed groups and identity militias, such as communal militias in Zamfara and Katsina, responsible for over 25 percent of these incidents. Rebel groups like Boko Haram also contributed to political violence against women.
The decline in women’s representation in Nigeria’s National Assembly in 2023 is largely attributed to the increasing political violence against women.
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According to the report, women rank high as the worst country for women in parliamentary representation average score 4.5/5.0.
Maternal mortality, an important measure of justice for women, is influenced by healthcare quality and gender discrimination, according to the WPS Index. The report highlights that fragile states have the highest average maternal mortality ratio at 539.7 deaths per 100,000 live births, followed by Sub-Saharan Africa at 506.9.
The five countries with the highest maternal mortality ratios (South Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Central African Republic, and Guinea-Bissau) are all classified as fragile states. Sub-Saharan Africa’s high maternal mortality is linked to factors such as child marriage, limited access to contraception, and reproductive health education.
These issues result in adolescent fertility rates of 100 births per 1,000 girls, making young girls more vulnerable to pregnancy-related complications and maternal mortality.
Globally, women’s financial inclusion has increased from 56% in 2014 to 71% as of 2021. In 50 countries, there have been increases of at least 10 percentage points in financial inclusion, with Lesotho and Moldova leading the way.
In Afghanistan and South Sudan, fewer than 5% of women have access to their bank accounts. For Nigeria, women’s financial inclusion stands at 35%, and women’s employment is at 58.9%.
Overall, women’s financial inclusion exceeds 95% in 30 countries but drops to 10% or lower in eight countries.
