Norway's quality of life
keeps No. 1 spot
July 15, 2004
UN report finds many African countries sinking because of AIDS
UNITED NATIONS, New York Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada and the
Netherlands rank as the best five countries
to live in but Africa's quality of life is plummeting because of AIDS, says
a UN report released on Thursday.
The United States is ranked in eighth place, a drop of one position from
2003 in the report that rates not only per capita income but also
educational levels, health care and life expectancy in measuring a nation's
well-being.
The Human Development Index, prepared by the UN Development Program, is
issued annually and includes every country for which statistics are
available.
Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea and Liberia are among the nations not
included because of lack of data.
Norway has led the list for the past four years.
Aside from the overall index, the report produces indicators on women's
equality, income inequality and consumption, poverty and other categories
that countries use to measure development. In Canada, for example, the index
has been used in advertisements to attract business.
The industrialized nations as usual are in the top 20, their ratings close
to one another. Belgium is in sixth place, followed by Iceland, the United
States, Japan, Ireland, Switzerland, Britain, Finland, Austria, Luxembourg,
France, Denmark, New Zealand, Germany and Spain.
At the bottom of the list for the seventh year is Sierra Leone, emerging
from a decade of civil war. Just above it are Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and
Burundi.
The world's newest nation, East Timor, is included for the first time and
ranked 158th out of 177 countries.
In Africa, the AIDS crisis reduced the average life expectancy in many
countries to 40 years or less, making it the biggest factor in the decline
of overall human development indicators, the report says. In comparison, the
average life expectancy in Norway is 79 years.
At least 20 nations suffered development reversals since 1990, many of them
in Africa: Angola, Central African Republic, Lesotho, Mozambique, Sierra
Leone, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the report says.
"The AIDS crisis cripples states at all levels because the disease attacks
people in their most productive years," said Mark Malloch Brown, head of the
UN Development Program.
In Latin American and Caribbean nations, Barbados again heads the list, in
29th place. Argentina is 34; Chile, 43; Costa Rica, 45; Uruguay, 46;
Bahamas, 51; Cuba, 52; Mexico, 53; Venezuela, 68. Brazil dropped to 72nd
place, one above Colombia, compared with last year, when it ranked 65th.
In Asia, Hong Kong is in 23rd place and Singapore in 25th. South Korea is
28th, Thailand, 76; Philippines, 83; China, 94; India, 127; Bangladesh, 138;
and Pakistan, 142.
In the Middle East, Israel leads the list in 22nd place, followed by Cyprus
in 30th place; Bahrain, 40; Kuwait, 44; Qatar, 47; United Arab Emirates, 49;
Libya, 58; Oman, 74; Saudi Arabia, 77; Lebanon, 80; Jordan, 90; Tunisia, 92;
Palestinian territories, 102; Syria, 106; Algeria, 108; Egypt, 120; Morocco,
125; and Yemen, 149.
