Policies for Social Inclusion and Equity (Cluster C) covers a wide range of policy areas such as gender equality, equity of public resource use, human development, social protection, and environmental sustainability. The overall score for the cluster this year remained steady at 3.3, however, the averages did increase for two individual criteria, building human resources and policies and institutions for environmental sustainability.
The scores for gender equality (3.2), equity of public resource use (3.4), and social protection and labor (3.0) are unchanged from the previous year. The average increased for building human resources (3.6) and policies and institutions for environmental sustainability (3.3). For 13 countries, the average score for the cluster was upgraded by 0.5 point (Benin, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, the Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Togo, and Zambia, and only one country score, Chad, declined.