Apparently all of us must have heard and have been taught about Human Development Index in our schools but I bet only a small fraction would know or have been taught about GII-Gender Inequality Index and GDI-Gender Development Index

The GDI and GII are the indices proposed by the United Nations Development Programme to assess the position of women in society. However, they give us distinct information on gender inequalities GDI uses the same components of the HDI – longevity, education and income revealing whether human development achievements are distributed between the two genders(i.e.,it shows the ratio of women to men)on the other hand,the GII uses distinct components forming an index ideally focused on gender inequalities, with greater attention to female side
Higher values in GII indicate worse achievements Whereas
Higher values in GDI indicate countries have less gender inequality

How is GII measured?(According to World Health Organisation)

•Reproductive Health-There are two features under this ,the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), the data for which come UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children, and the adolescent fertility rate (AFR), the data for which is obtained through the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, respectively.A low MMR implies access to adequate health care during the time of pregnancy and birth. A high AFR, which measures early childbearing, results in health risks for mothers and infants as well as a lack of higher education attainment. It implies higher rates of child marriage, higher drop out rates for females as the mothers fall in the age bracket of 15-19.

•Empowerment-The empowerment dimension is measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex, which is obtained from the International Parliamentary Union, and higher education attainment levels, which is obtained through United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO). Access to secondary education is linked to higher economic independence, greater exercise or choice and greater involvement of women in the public sphere.

•Labour Dimension-It includes women’s involvement in the workforce. Labour market participation is higher in countries where women have higher literacy levels and secondary education.