Malta is one of three high revenue countries which have been placed at a very low rating on the Global Gender Gap by the World Economic Forum.

It has been placed in the 83rd place, Japan in the 94th place and Saudi Arabia in the 129th place.

Once again, Nordic countries dominate the equal opportunities list: Iceland is first, followed by Norway, Finland and Sweden. Then come New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, Lesotho, the Philippines and Switzerland.

Switzerland is an interesting case: from 2005 when the first list was drawn up, Switzerland has never been in the first 10 places: in 2006 it was only in the 26th place, in the 40th place in 2007 and in the 14th in 2008.

But the advance registered over the past year is due mainly to a greater representation of women in Parliament and in government. The last elections for the Federal Council in September have not been taken into consideration since the list is based on July figures.

Italy is in the 74th place, preceded by many developing countries.

The WEF list is not based solely on political considerations but also on economic ones and here Switzerland can still improve as there are still inequalities between the sexes regarding their salaries. Besides, maternity leave is among the least generous in Europe and women are rarely in posts of responsibility.

Mozambique is 22nd and Botswana is 62nd. Last in the list are: Pakistan (132), Chad (133) and Yemen (134).