While Norway is the best country for female equality, Estonia offers longest maternity leave of 1,162. Getty Images
While Norway is the best country for female equality, Estonia offers longest maternity leave of 1,162. Getty Images
While Norway is the best country for female equality, Estonia offers longest maternity leave of 1,162. Getty Images
While Norway is the best country for female equality, Estonia offers longest maternity leave of 1,162. Getty Images

The top countries for women’s opportunities are revealed


Alice Haine
  • English
  • Arabic

Norway gives women the best access to equal opportunities and career advancement globally, while Estonia offers the longest maternity leave, with 1,162 days for new working mothers, a new ranking found.

While Norway scored highly across all categories in the ranking of 100 countries, particularly on female political representation, corporate leadership and women’s legislation, Finland and Iceland took second and third positions respectively, according to the Female Opportunity Index 2021 from German digital bank N26.

Meanwhile, Estonia offers more than three years of maternity leave, along with Slovakia and Finland, which came in close second and third positions, with 1,148 days and 1,127 days respectively.

“For many women, financial independence is the only means through which they can determine how they want to live, and yet it often comes at the expense of being the primary care-giver and having the lion’s share of domestic duties at home,” said Adrienne Gormley, chief operating officer at N26.

“Coupled with the gender salary wage gap that continues to be a huge impediment to female earnings, there are still many more obstacles for women who want to achieve the level of success men take for granted.”

Women's careers have been more adversely affected than men's during the coronavirus pandemic, with female jobs 1.8 times more vulnerable to this crisis than men's jobs globally, at 5.7 per cent versus 3.1 per cent, according to management consultancy McKinsey. While women make up 39 per cent of global employment, they also account for 54 per cent of overall job losses as the virus increases the domestic burden.

In the N26 ranking, the UK came in fourth position overall, scoring in the top 10 for the number of women in managerial positions and for female access to education. It was also in the top 30 for maternity leave, offering new mothers of 273 days.

While the UAE came 79th overall, it scored in the top 20 for the number of women in entrepreneurial roles with a score of 95.4 out of 100, and ranked 28th with a score of 93.8 for the number of women in government roles.

It was near the bottom of the ranking on maternity leave, with only 45 days of statutory leave offered. However, this only applies to the private sector, as women working in UAE government departments are given 90 days of paid leave and, depending on which emirate they live in, are allowed more time in unpaid leave.

Rwanda has the most women in government positions, followed by Spain and Finland, while Sweden has the most women in top management positions. The US has the most female entrepreneurs and Japan has the highest score for female access to education.

Sri Lanka has had the most years with a female head of government, followed by Norway and India.

“There has been a lot of discussion about the fact that female-led countries performed better than male-led ones during the height of the first Covid-19 wave. This has been attributed to ... better communication and more lateral thinking, however, the ultimate outcome is that countries with female leaders managed better during the peak of the crisis,” said Ms Gormley.

The countries included in the N26 study, which analysed political leadership, careers, pay equality and support, were chosen due to their availability of data on women in the workplace and their inclusion in the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Report 2020.

Singapore secured the top spot for women's salaries and gender pay equality and for the number of women in Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) roles.

About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
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  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Specs

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Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont

Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950

Engine 3.6-litre V6

Gearbox Eight-speed automatic

Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm

Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm

Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km

The figures behind the event

1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew

2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show

3) 1,000 social distancing stickers

4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue

Notable cricketers and political careers
  • India: Kirti Azad, Navjot Sidhu and Gautam Gambhir (rumoured)
  • Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
  • Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
  • Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)
'THE WORST THING YOU CAN EAT'

Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.

Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines: 

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Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.