Friday, November 01, 2013

England is the World’s Most Positive Country for 2013

Positive accomplishments in the area of scientific innovation, economy and international relations are considered as the top three requirements for being one of the most positive countries, according to the Daily Positive (D+) global poll on positive achievements.
 
D+, an exclusive online media for positive news, is pleased to announce the list of top 10 World’s Most Positive Countries 2013 (WMPC’13). In the third year of the award series, England jumped into the top spot in 2013 from last year’s third position.
 
The World’s Most Positive Countries initiative recognizes the positive achievements, initiatives and actions accomplished by each country of the world.  The list was compiled based on global expert panel rating, D+ journalists-volunteers rating, global social media survey, and the number of positive news entries in 2013 in the D+ website.
 
The top 10 World’s Most Positive Countries 2013 along with respective ranking points are as follows:
 
Country Name
Total
England
715
United States of America
696
China
658
Australia
612
Germany
564
Canada
520
Switzerland
432
Sweden
416
South Korea
399
New Zealand
373
 
On the eve of the announcement, Dr. Arif Jubaer, founder of D+, said, "We have seen increased interest around the world regarding this annual list of positive countries and the participations were higher than ever before. It was great to see D+'s mission to spread positive news is reaching out to the furthest corner of the world."
 
The winners made it to the list with some great news and positive accomplishments throughout the year.  England was impressive with scientific innovations, archeological discoveries and renewable energy initiatives, among others.  Its contributions to medical science were highly regarded which include facilitation of world's first ever birth of a baby using Eeva technology which allows doctors to choose the healthiest embryos for IVF treatment and first ever successful liver transplantation while keeping the organ warm and functioning outside a human body. The United States of America moved down to second spot in the list this year. Alleged National Security Agency spying and government shutdown hurt the US popularity. However, it remained strong in research and innovation.
 
China moved up into third position with its strong international diplomacy that continued to generate interests among countries around the world seeking economic partnerships with it. Despite maintaining strong economy Australia dropped to fourth position with political instability in the country.
 
Germany not only maintained the leading role in the European Union but also continued to impress with its initiatives with renewable energy.  The education system of Canada, particularly the research strength of its universities was highly regarded.
 
Robust economy, environment friendly development and its diplomatic relationship with its European neighbors earned Switzerland the seventh spot in the list. This is the first time Switzerland made it to the list.  Sweden climbed up two steps into the eighth position this year with its sustainable growth in education, research and excellent public services, though often came under scrutiny for the 2013 Stockholm riots.
 
South Korea is another country that made it to the list of most positive countries for the first time.  The handling of 2013 Korean crisis that almost brought South and North Koreans on the brink of a war was highly praised. Finally, New Zealand made it back to the list with its timely and competent decisions related to its biggest industries, such as, contamination scare of its dairy products in 2013.
 
There were three changes in 2013 from last year’s list of the most positive countries. France, Japan and India could not make it to the list. Based on the global poll comments, France seems to have lost that charm of one of the leading nations of the European Union and struggled with issues like higher unemployment rate and war in Mali.  On the other hand, despite experiencing strong technological advancements by Japan, the Fukushima disaster cleanup efforts alone had created substantial backlogs on Japan’s national policies, such as, investment in renewable energy. Series of sexual assaults on women badly destroyed India’s image which prompted the government to measure some recovery actions like introduction of visa on arrival for handful of countries in order to boost the tourism industry.
 
Further analysis on the WMPC’13 result also provides some interesting insights. According to the global poll conducted for WMPC’13, Innovation and discovery, Economy, International Relation, Environment and Sports achievements were the most popular choice of positive accomplishments among 4254 global participants with 45% women and 55% men. Among other popular subject area of positive accomplishments picked by the participants are peace, literature, improved public services, freedom of speech and reduction in corruptions.


Analysis of the comments made in the poll by the women participants suggests that women admire accomplishments related to ancient affair or nature, such as, archaeological discoveries equally with latest scientific and technological advancements. On the other hand, men were significantly more interested in positive accomplishments regarding economy, international relation and sports.
 
D+ will present these and other observations in details at a presentation ceremony on 25 November 2013 at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
 
The countries those could not make it to the top 10 also produced some great positive news stories. It was probably the best year yet for the women in Saudi Arabia. Among few positive changes, the Saudi women were not only granted seats on the country's top advisory council for the first time but also made history by reaching the summit of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest. Russia continued to increase its positive image, slow but steady, for the second year in a row. Still shown dominance in space programs and was highly praised for its stand against Syria’s chemical weapons; amid likely confrontation with the US. South Sudan, the world's newest country, has advanced with work on offering training to returned soldiers as a means of boosting the economy, focusing on girls' education and making progress towards border security with its former rival, Sudan.
 
For more information on the World’s Most Positive Countries 2013 initiative visit http://www.dailypositive.org/Most_Positive_Countries