According to Klaus Schwab (2008), founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum,
„Global corporate citizenship means that companies must not only be engaged with stakeholders but be stakeholders themselves alongside governments and civil society. Since companies depend on global development, which in turn relies on stability and increased prosperity, it is in their direct interest to help improve the state of the world.”
The Global Gender Gap Index, first introduced in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2006, represents a framework for capturing the magnitude and scope of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. The Index offers national benchmarking on gender gaps for economic, political, education and health based criteria, providing country rankings that allow effective comparisons across regions and income groups, over time (World Economic Forum, 2009).