Philippines ranks first in narrowing gender gap

THE Philippines ranked 34th among 84 developing countries in reducing hunger, but was first in the world in providing equal opportunities to men and women, according to the 2009 Global Hunger Index report.

The Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute released the Global Hunger Index ahead of the observance of World Food Day on Oct. 16.

The index ranked countries on three leading indicators: prevalence of child malnutrition, rates of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie-deficient.

It was based on data culled from 2002 to 2007 and has yet to capture the full impact of the food crisis in 2007, the financial crisis in 2008, and the recent natural calamities.

The Philippines had a global hunger index of 13.2 in 2009, an improvement from 19.0 in 1991. A higher index means a higher incidence of hunger.

The country had the 50th highest incidence of hunger in the world, which was better than in many African countries, the worst of which was Congo, with a hunger index of 39.1.

Countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Peru, China, Thailand and Vietnam cut hunger by more than 50 percent.

China was ranked 5th in the list, with a hunger index of only 5.7, a big improvement from 11.6 in 1990. Vietnam was also able to reduce its hunger index to 11.9 from 24,8 during the same period to rank 29th in the list.

Syrian Arab Republic topped the list with an index of 5.2.

Most Latin American countries were able to bring down their hunger indices to less than 5.0.

Klaus von Grebmer, lead author of the report and communications director at the International Food Policy Research Institute, said low-income countries were being hurt by the food and financial crises.

“The crises have significantly reduced purchasing power and income-earning opportunities for poor people, who spend up to 70 percent of their income on food, while food prices in many countries are still higher than several years ago,” von Grebmer said.

The report also said that countries suffering from alarming levels of hunger—including Burundi and Congo— were also very vulnerable to the global recession.

From 2003 to 2005, the proportion of undernourished people in the Philippines was estimated at 16 percent of the population—down from 21 percent in the period 1990 to 1992.

By comparison, about 9 percent of the population in China and 14 percent of Vietnam’s were undernourished in the same period.

The prevalence of underweight children under five years in the Philippines was 20.7 percent in 2002 to 2007—an improvement from 29.9 percent in 1988 to 1992.

The mortality rate among children under five years was 2.8 percent in the country as of 2007—down from 6.2 percent in 1990.

The report said 29 countries around the world had alarming or extremely alarming levels of hunger, and 13 countries had actually seen increases in their hunger levels since 1990.

The report also indicated that high rates of hunger were strongly linked to gender inequalities, especially in literacy and access to education.

The Philippines ranked first in the global gender gap index with a score of 0.7568, while Yemen was at the bottom of the list with an index of 0.4664

“Women’s educational level and status or power relative to men’s in households and communities significantly affect children’s nutrition,” said Agnes Quisumbing, the report’s co-author.

“In South Asia, women’s low social status and limited access to schooling have dire consequences for the nutrition, health, and wellbeing of both mothers and their children,” Quisumbing dsif.

Countries with the most severe hunger problems also had high levels of gender inequality. The situation was especially serious in Chad, which ranked fifth worst on the Global Hunger Index, second in gender inequality, and with a low female literacy rate of 13 percent compared with 41 percent for men.

Overall, the Index illustrated that progress in reducing hunger remained slow. Since 1990, the global score had declined by less than 25 percent.

Most of the progress has been made in Southeast Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, which have lowered their index scores by more than 40 percent over the past two decades. –Roderick T. dela Cruz, Manila Standard Today