India’s rank Improved in Gender Inequality Index 2022 of UNDP

According to the Gender Inequality Index 2022 released by the United Nations Development Programme out of 193 countries India stands at rank 108 with a score of 0.437.

• UNDP released the Gender Inequality Index 2022 in their Human Development Report 2023-2024 on March 13, 2024.
• India’s rank was 122 out of 191 countries with a score of 0.490 in the Gender Inequality Index 2021.
• This marks a good jump of 14 ranks on GII 2022 vis-a-vis GII 2021.
• India's rank in GII has become consistently better, indicating progressive improvement in achieving gender equality in the country over the last 10 years. In 2014, India’s rank was 127, which has now become 108.
• The rank has been improved due to the decisive agenda set by the government for allowing women's empowerment through policy initiatives through their long-term socio-economic and political development. 
• Government initiatives have ranged across women's lifecycles like girls' education, skill development, entrepreneurship facilitation and safety in the workplace.
• Such policies and legislation in these areas helped the Government's 'women-led development' agenda.

About Gender Inequality Index 

1. According to UNDP, GII is an index measuring gender inequality using three dimensions: reproductive health, 
2. empowerment and 
3. the labour market. 

The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is a measure of inequality between men and women. A lower GII value indicates a smaller gap between the genders, while a higher value indicates a larger gap. 

The GII considers three dimensions of gender-based disadvantage: reproductive health, empowerment, and the labour market. 

It assesses the loss in potential human development resulting from inequality between male and female achievements in these dimensions. 

The index ranges from 0, indicating that men and women are equally treated in all measured dimensions, to 1, indicating that one gender is treated as poorly as possible in all measured dimensions.

About UNDP

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was formed by combining two earlier programs - the United Nations Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance (established in 1949) and the United Nations Special Fund (established in 1958). 

The UNDP we know today was officially created by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1966.

Index released by UNDP

• Human Development Index (HDI),
• Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), 
• Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), 
• Gender Inequality Index (GII), 
• Gender Development Index (GDI), 
• Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI (PHDI) and 
• Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI).