Are governments considering the well-being of their citizens?

Governments around the world, at all levels of economic growth, are improving the well-being of their citizens. This is the result revealed by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report, Building Well-Being into National Strategies: the 2014 Sustainable Economic Development Assessment, released on 17 February 2014.

BCG’s sustainable economic development assessment (SEDA) assessed 149 countries across ten dimensions of well-being, including: (1) income, (2) education, (3) health, (4) civil society, and (5) the environment. The study examined each country’s GDP growth from 2007 to 2012. It also examined whether governments were taking steps to fully integrate the goal of improving well-being into the development of national strategies.

SEDA (conducted annually since 2012) reveals that even low economic growth does not necessarily limit a country’s success in efforts to include well-being as a national strategy. For example, Mexico produced improvements in well-being above expectations given the country’s relatively slow economic growth. Similarly, Turkey, with moderate economic growth, generated gains in citizen well-being above the average for countries with a similar growth trajectory, the report revealed. China’s well-being results kept pace with it rapid economic growth, but below average when compared with countries experiencing similar rates of economic growth.

The report revealed some common patterns of success among countries with varying growth levels but with advances in strategies for improving the well-being of their citizens. These included improvements in infrastructure and health, particularly for high-growth countries. Low-growth countries increased citizen well-being predominantly through improvements in the environment and civil society.

For some countries, such as Norway and Bhutan, well-being strategies have been included in national government policies for a long time. For other countries, such as Malaysia and the United Kingdom, improvements to integrate well-being measures into government policy are well under way. Therefore, the majority of governments are increasingly considering well-being as a critical factor in their national policies, in addition to their aims for economic growth.

Finchannel.com

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog