Qatar ranks 36 in happiness report

Date

3/19/2016 9:52:37 PM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) People enjoying cloudy and cold weather at Souq waqif Doha. (Pic: Abdul Basit)

Doha: Qatar ranked 36 in happiness report released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Qatar was ranked above European countries like Italy Spain and Japan.

The first report was issued in 2012 to support a UN meeting on happiness and well-being. Five countries - Bhutan Ecuador Scotland United Arab Emirates and Venezuela - now have appointed Ministers of Happiness charged with promoting it as a goal of public policy.

The top 10 this year were Denmark Switzerland Iceland Norway Finland Canada Netherlands New Zealand Australia and Sweden. Denmark was in third place last year behind Switzerland and Iceland.

The bottom 10 were Madagascar Tanzania Liberia Guinea Rwanda Benin Afghanistan Togo Syria and Burundi.

The United States came in at 13 the United Kingdom at 23 France at 32 and Italy at 50.

In the region UAE came in at 28 abd saudi was ranked 34 while Kuwait and Bahrain were ranked 41 and 42 respectively.

With all the turmoil Liya still managed 67 way ahead of Egypt at 120 while Lebanon ranked 93.

While India ranked 118 its neighbour Pakistan fared slightly better at 98.

While the differences between countries where people are happy and those where they are not could be scientifically measured "we can understand why and do something about it" said Professor Jeffrey Sachs head of the SDSN and special advisor to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. one of the report's authors.

Aiming to "survey the scientific underpinnings of measuring and understanding subjective well-being" the report now in its fourth edition ranks 157 countries by happiness levels using factors such as per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and healthy years of life expectancy.

It also rates "having someone to count on in times of trouble" and freedom from corruption in government and business.

"When countries single-mindedly pursue individual objectives such as economic development to the neglect of social and environmental objectives the results can be highly adverse for human wellbeing even dangerous for survival" it said.

"Many countries in recent years have achieved economic growth at the cost of sharply rising inequality entrenched social exclusion and grave damage to the natural environment."

The 2016 survey showed that three countries in particular Ireland Iceland and Japan were able to maintain their happiness levels despite external shocks such as the post-2007 economic crisis and the 2011 earthquake because of social support and solidarity.

Sachs pointed to Costa Rica which came in 14th and ahead of many wealthier countries as an example of a healthy happy society although it is not an economic powerhouse.

The Peninsula / Reuters

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.