The Women, Peace and Security Index (WPS) scores and ranks countries in terms of women's security, justice, and inclusion. The index is widely used to compare countries as well as their development trends over time.
Description The index is published by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As of October 2023, four indexes have been released. The researchers use a total of 13 indicators, spanning from employment and education regulations to perceptions of violence and safety. The index takes into account proximity to armed conflict, financial inclusion, share of parliamentary seats, and other parameters. Information is gathered from various sources such as the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Gallup World Poll. Scores are on a scale of 0 to 1. There are major implications of the WPS reports and scores. The WPS is highly correlated with other indexes, most notably the Human Development Index, the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index, and the Fragile States Index. These correlations demonstrate that when women are doing well in a society, it is also more peaceful, democratic, and prosperous. The WPS score is a more consistent predictor of these features than a country's GDP, indicating that women's rights and gender equality are integral to a country's state. The index also gives insight into specific domains in which every country can improve.
Indicators In its initial form, the WPS used 11 indicators across 3 dimensions. In the newest edition from 2023/2024, it used 13 indicators.
Inclusion Inclusion is defined as being economic, social, and political. This dimension contains five indicators.
Education, measured as the average number of years of education of women 25 years and older. Financial inclusion, measured as percentage of women with a bank account (individual or joint). Employment, measured as a percentage of women between ages 25-64 in the formal or informal workplace. Cellphone use, measured as women above the age of 15 who have a mobile phone that they can use for personal calls. Parliamentary representation, measured as percentage of seats held by women.
Justice Justice is defined as formal and informal discrimination. This dimension contains four indicators.
Absence of legal discrimination, scored from 0-100 to reflect how the law protects women's opportunities across 35 life and work aspects. Access to justice, scored from 0-4 based on the extent to which women are able to exercise justice in court without threat to safety. Maternal mortality, measured as the number of maternal deaths due to pregnancy-related causes per 100,000 live births Son bias, measured as the number of boys born per 100 girls, with a rate of 1.05 being the highest natural demographic.
Security Security is defined as being at the individual, community, and societal levels. This dimension contains four indicators.
Intimate partner violence, measured as the percentage of women whom have had a partner in their lifetime and have experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner in the past 12 months. Community safety, defined as the percentage of women and girls older than 15 who were polled by Gallup World Poll and answered that they felt safe walking alone where they live. Political violence targeting women, measured as the number of political violence events against women per 100,000 women. Proximity to conflict, measured as percentage of women living within 50 kilometers of an armed conflict.
Past Reports
2017/2018 Report The 2017/2018 WPS Report was the inaugural report that debuted the index. It ranked 153 countries, covering more than 98% of the world's population. The top 12 countries all scored at or above 0.845, with top three scorers in order being Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. The bottom dozen countries scored at or below 0.56. There was a larger disparity here, with the bottom three countries in order being Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen, with Syria and Afghanistan both receiving a score of 0.385. In contrast, Iceland's score was 0.886.
2019/2020 Report The 2019/2020 WPS Report expanded with additional data to 167 countries. In this report, the top dozen countries all scored above 0.870. The top three in order were Norway, Switzerland, and Finland. The bottom three countries were Yemen, Afghanistan, and Syria. The top scorer, Norway, received a score of 0.904, with the bottom scorer, Yemen, receiving a score of 0.351. This edition of the WPS also added subnational reports for three of the most populous countries (China, India, and Nigeria) to reflect diversity within each. There were several significant findings of this report. Almost every country, excluding Iceland, scored poorly in at least one dimension. General trends across all countries showed that all three dimensions improved from the 2017/2018 report. However, on individual indicators such as parliamentary representation and employment, progress had stalled.
2021/2022 Report The 2021/2022 WPS Report ranked a total of 170 countries. From the 2017 report to the 2021 report, there was a global average increase of 9 percent in WPS scores. 90 countries had an increase of 5 percent or more. The top dozen countries scored at or above 0.879, with the top three in order being Norway, Finland, and Iceland. The bottom three countries were Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen. Syria, the lowest scorer, was given a score of 0.278, compared to the top scorer Norway with 0.922. A notable addition to this report was Palestine, which ranked 160th. The pace of progress slowed dramatically, cut by nearly half compared to the pace from 2017 to 2019, largely attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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