Qatar’s ranking in the International Living index

15 Feb, 2010  Gov, Random

I just thought that I’d share this URL with everyone http://www1.internationalliving.com/qofl2010/

Give it a peek. It’s the International Living standards database. They rate the final score based on cost of living, leisure & culture, economy, environment, freedom, health, infrastructure, risk &safety and climate.

Long story short: Qatar is ranked 130. A few countries that ranked HIGHER include, Nepal, Namibia, India, China, Ghana, and Vietnam.

Where Qatar’s rank was pulled down was in Climate, Infrastructure, and Freedom.

What do you all think? Should Qatar really be ranked that low. (I personally agree that the three they ranked low on were correct.)

  • nadine

    I do not feel the ranking truly reflects the high standard of living enjoyed by most residents in Qatar, especially when the countries you listed are ranked higher; I consider some of those countries listed as needing much more basic quality of life development than Qatar.

    I have lived in developing countries, i.e. one where there were daily blackouts, lack of basic sanitation, municipal services were highly inadequate (e.g. people used empty house lots as garbage dumps since there was no regular garbage pick-up), etc.–living in Qatar for me in comparison to those developing countries is a paradise!!!

    CLIMATE: I do admit that Qatar’s climate for a great part of the year is hot or hotter, but most buildings (including government/public) provide great HVAC…so you can go, for example, from your air-conditioned house, to air-conditioned car, to air-conditioned mall without much need to “suffer”.

    INFRASTRUCTURE: In terms of infrastructure, I agree Qatar is still in expansion mode but as a resident, I have not been highly inconvenienced by “lack” of infrastructure.

    FREEDOM: I have lived in other Gulf countries; I see more visible efforts to provide “freedoms” here, for example, Doha debates, Al Jeezera News, ROTA, women’s children’s rights, etc.

    I am from the U.S. and I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed living in Qatar. In fact, I lived a long time in New York City and I feel safer and more secure living in Qatar than I ever did living in New York City. Qatar might be ranked #130 in the International Living Index, but it is #1 on my list of great places to live!

  • http://www.iloveqatar.net Kei

    Just remember ranking is based on the total average.

    Arguing that we have A/C just means that the climate is tolerable (although we still can’t walk outside) not better.

    For infrastructure, I’ve been stuck in traffic, traffic sometimes doesn’t flow and public transport is lacking. It is not easy nor convenient to get around Qatar without a car.

    Finally in respect to freedom, again, Qatar’s improving and better than other countries, people still don’t have the opportunity to exercise certain freedoms,and that’s because of lack of tolerance by some.

    Qatar has great potential. That’s why I’m personally trying to help Qatar become a better country. However we can’t improve until we recognize our flaws.

  • http://eye-kare.blogspot.com Ahmad

    Nothing more to add to what you said, Kei. I agree that for a country with this amount of money, we’re way behind in infrastructure and other stuff like education.

    You say we need to recognize our flaws. Well, Before we do that, we need to teach people that there’s nothing wrong with admitting that we have flaws.

    I get many comments from people around me that i shouldn’t be criticizing my country. I’m sure you get similar comments too.

    :(

    i know it’s off topic but it’s been bothering me for a while, thought I should share it.

Freedom of Expression

    Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which the Qatari Government is a signatory of states: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any medias and regardless of any frontiers.

    The Emiri Decision Number 86 of the year 2007 on the establishment of the Doha Free Information Centre marked yet another step towards establishing a State of rights and freedom of speech. The decision stipulated that the Centre be a non-profit organization, headquartered in Doha City, and have the authority to establish other affiliated centres inside and outside Qatar. It is worth mentioning that His Highness the Emir issued a decision in 1998 annulling the ministry of information, giving birth to a new era of freedom of speech where censorship was removed from local media.