Switzerland
is the World’s Most Positive Country for 2015, according to the annual global
index published by Daily Positive (D+), a unique online
media organization from Australia for positive news. It is the first time Switzerland took the top
spot in this annual positivity index.
After retaining the top position for two consecutive years, England moved down to the fourth position in 2015. Despite its slow productive run this year, English researchers unveiled a graphene light bulb with lower energy emissions, longer lifetime and lower manufacturing costs. English archeologists have discovered one of Britain’s largest medieval hospital cemeteries. English pride prevailed at the World Snooker Championship, Women’s European Hockey Tournament and Ashes Cricket championship.
Another newcomer to the list, Norway, took the final spot of our top ten positive countries. According to a report published in 2015, Norway had the highest proportions (35.5%) of women in corporate boardrooms compared with the rest of the world. Norwegian democracy was top ranked and served as example for the global communities. Finally, one of our expert panel members highlighted, “Norway topped the list of Save the Children’s 2015 Mothers’ Index, which ranks the well-being of mothers and children around the globe.”
Europe: Finland
The annual
list of top ten most positive countries is compiled based on a positivity index
comprised of a global expert panel rating, a D+ journalists rating, a global web
poll and the number of positive news entries in 2015 on the D+ website.
The
top 10 World’s Most Positive Countries for 2015 along with respective ranking
points are as follows:
Country Name
|
Total Points
|
Switzerland
|
556
|
Sweden
|
533
|
China
|
517
|
England
|
502
|
Australia
|
491
|
Germany
|
479
|
United States of America
|
462
|
New Zealand
|
449
|
Singapore
|
431
|
Norway
|
424
|
Apart
from this overall list of ten most positive countries, for the first time ever,
D+ also introduces a list of regional positive countries from Africa, Asia,
Europe, North America and South America. The regional winners were selected
based on the same criteria used to select the overall winners but from a
specific region. The winners earned their places with some amazing positive
initiatives and actions in 2015.
Switzerland jumped to the top spot from last
year’s fourth position with its consistent display of competitiveness in nurturing
innovation and talent. Such sincere support helped projects like the solar-powered
aircraft Solar Impulse 2 or the Large Hadron Collider to go to a new high this
year. Switzerland also ensured the country’s productivity and prosperity by
ranking higher in various prestigious indexes, such as, global democracy index,
peace index, tourism-friendly index and education index. “Based on innovative
environmental management practices, Switzerland has become one of the most
sustainable nations in the world in the areas of climate change, biodiversity
and habitat protection”, says one of our expert panel members.
Second placed Sweden was not far away in terms of
innovation and also in all the above mentioned indexes. Perhaps that is why
this year the Swedish researchers won prestigious awards, such as, the Princess
of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research and the Nobel Prize
in Chemistry. Sweden’s Eurovision song contest win made its long list of achievements
for 2015 more entertaining. Sweden maintained its leading position in media
transparency.
China moved to third position in 2015, sliding
down one spot from last year. One of the important diplomatic wins for China in
2015 was to be able to attract global interest to the Chinese-led development
bank Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). China made significant
progress with its domestic navigation system Beidou by launching new satellites
and with the newly developed carrier rockets. Also, Youyou Tu of China won the Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy
against Malaria. This is the first time that any expert in Chinese traditional
medicine has been awarded a Nobel.
After retaining the top position for two consecutive years, England moved down to the fourth position in 2015. Despite its slow productive run this year, English researchers unveiled a graphene light bulb with lower energy emissions, longer lifetime and lower manufacturing costs. English archeologists have discovered one of Britain’s largest medieval hospital cemeteries. English pride prevailed at the World Snooker Championship, Women’s European Hockey Tournament and Ashes Cricket championship.
Australia remained at the fifth position
in 2015. Australian researchers have unveiled the world's first 3D-printed jet
engine, the University of New South Wales and their robots defended their
RoboCup World Football Championship title. Australia successfully launched one
of the world’s most-advanced communication satellites Sky Muster into orbit,
and they may have lost the Ashes to England but won their fifth One Day
International Cricket World Cup at home.
Germany moved up one position to the sixth
spot in 2015 compared to last year. Germany was well supported in our global
poll for its role with the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis. German construction
of wind turbines reached a record high, German researchers helped develop a prototype
quantum radar that has the potential to detect objects which are invisible to
conventional systems, and Germany has been highly tourist friendly.
The United States of America slid down to seventh position this year. Improved
diplomatic relationships with Cuba and Iran were seen as the best foreign policy
successes in 2015. Some of this year’s notable scientific achievements were, American
doctors successfully transplanted, for the first time in the world, a scalp and
skull while performing kidney and pancreas transplants. American researchers
have discovered the world’s first warm-blooded fish – the opah. Researchers at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have identified a brain circuit
that encodes time and place. According to one of our expert panel members,
“USA, despite not being able to combat its economic deficiency with full
potential, continued to maintain perhaps the best academic system that allows
them to keep up the great works.” It is also notable that the United States of
America won the Women's Football World Cup for the third time.
New Zealand made it to the eighth
position in the list. New Zealand ranked high in the democratic and peaceful
country indexes in 2015. New Zealand announced the creation of a 620,000 km2
Ocean Sanctuary in the Kermadec region, which will be one of the world’s most
significant fully protected ecosystems. Also, New Zealand reported a budget
surplus for the first time since 2008, meeting a target set in 2011 following
the Canterbury earthquakes and the international financial crisis.
Singapore is at the ninth position and made
it to the list for the first time in our positivity index’s 5-year history. Singapore
has been very competitive in terms of innovation and education. Singapore’s
education systems, from school to the university, have been rated top-class in
2015. Also, Singapore‘s Botanic Gardens was recognized by UNESCO as the
country’s first ever World Heritage Site.
Another newcomer to the list, Norway, took the final spot of our top ten positive countries. According to a report published in 2015, Norway had the highest proportions (35.5%) of women in corporate boardrooms compared with the rest of the world. Norwegian democracy was top ranked and served as example for the global communities. Finally, one of our expert panel members highlighted, “Norway topped the list of Save the Children’s 2015 Mothers’ Index, which ranks the well-being of mothers and children around the globe.”
D+ Most Positive Regional Countries 2015
Africa: Nigeria
Despite slow response to
the rescue of the missing Chibok schoolgirls, Africa’s biggest economy Nigeria stood firm with new
administrations and fresh approaches against terrorism in the country. Nigeria signed
a bill that criminalizes female genital mutilation in the country. In case
these were not impressive enough in order for Nigeria to take the regional title
from Africa, it is worth mentioning, the World Health Organization announced
that polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria, bringing the country and the
African region closer than ever to being certified polio-free.
Asia: Bangladesh and India
Bangladesh and India were jointly named as the most positive countries from Asia. Both
the neighbors simplified their border by exchanging more than 150 enclaves of
land and settled the long running dispute peacefully. It was widely compared to
the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Moreover, Bangladesh has become a lower-middle
income country. Bangladesh has shown outstanding leadership on the frontline of
climate change that bestowed Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh
Hasina with the prestigious Champions of the Earth Award by the United Nations.
On the other hand, India inaugurated Cochin International airport, the first
airport in the world that completely operates on solar power. India continued
to march forward with their space missions and most recently successfully
launched its first space Multi Wavelength Space Observatory ASTROSAT.
Finland was our regional winner from
Europe. Its reputable education system, vibrant democracy, peaceful and
innovative approach to national and international issues earned them the honor
this year. Women’s empowerment and professional development were also high on
the agenda for Finnish prosperity.
North America: Cuba
Cuba was crowned as the regional winner
from North America. Cuba restored full diplomatic relations with the United
States and as a result, the United States removed many sanctions imposed on
Cuba. Consequently, new travel and trade rules between the two countries came
into effect, the diplomatic missions of each country became full embassies, and
they have re-established direct telephone links for the first time in 15 years.
Cuba is certainly back on the global stage with their own values and pride
intact.
South America: Chile
Chile took the regional tittle from South America. Chile announced the
creation of the largest marine reserve in the Americas in its Pacific waters. Chile
won the Copa America football title for the first time in their history. Chilean
scientists have been making the best use of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter
Array (ALMA), an international setup of an astronomical interferometer of radio
telescopes in northern Chile, with new and novel research outcomes.
This year 4541 global
citizens participated in our global poll with 61% men and 39% women. The global
poll result suggests, Science and Innovation, Economy, Education, International
Relation, World Peace, Environment and Sports were the most popular choice of
positive accomplishments among both men and women participants while voting for
their positive countries. Other choices were Freedom of speech, Tourism and Poverty
Alleviation.
D+ continued to observe
the trend on the percentage of people hopeful for positive future, primarily
immediate future, based on the comments made during its global polls since 2011.
It is observed that people’s positive outlook continued to decline since 2013 and
apparently this year it was hugely affected by the ongoing Syrian refugee
crisis. Perhaps that is why World Peace moved down as the fifth most popular choice
of positive accomplishment in the 2015 global poll compared with being the
first choice in 2014.
Apart from the winners, other
countries have also shown tremendous resilience and achieved new heights. The
small African island of Seychelles
continued not only to attract tourists but also built solid diplomatic
relationships with other countries. Japan’s
win against South Africa in the Rugby world cup had to be the most spirited
news in world sports in 2015. Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for its
decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia won the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.
Finally not to forget the heroic efforts that continued in Liberia, Guinea, Mali and Sierra
Leone that almost eradicated Ebola virus.
“D+
World’s Most Positive Countries is in its fifth year and this year it has been
celebrated with more enthusiasm and excitement indicating global citizens are more
eager than ever before to have access to positive news. It is one of the
biggest wake-up calls for world media to give positive news a chance to spread."
says Dr. Arif Jubaer, Founder of D+.
D+ will present the above information and facts in detail at a presentation
ceremony on 25 November 2015 at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
For more information on the World’s Most Positive Countries 2015
visit http://www.dailypositive.org/Most_Positive_Countries
Contact Information:
Contact Person: Dr. Arif Jubaer, Founder, Daily Positive (D+)
Web Address: http://www.dailypositive.org/
Mobile: +61-411215302
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