A recent rating by the United Nations 2020 World Happiness Report has listed 10 counties in East Africa as most unhappiest with Kenya leading the happy list.
According to a report by African News Agency (ANA) and published on www.iol.co.za,the list of 156 countries saw the East Africa region at the tail end of the ranking with Kenya leading the happiness pack in the region ranking at 120, 4 583 out of the possible 10.
Kenya is closely followed by Uganda ranking at 126, 4.432 out of 10.
The unhappiest nation in East Africa is Rwanda ranking at 150 with a score of 3.312.
Rwanda is still recovering from its dark history of genocide.
In the 1990s a civil war between the Hutus and Tutsis, led to a bloodbath with the mass killing of between 500,000 and a million Rwandans.
The happiest nation was Finland with a score of 7.809.
While the unhappiest nation is war-torn Afghanistan, with a score of 2 567.
To measure happiness in each country a survey is conducted based on six parameters; the Gross Domestic Product, social support, healthy life and expectancy at birth, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
The UN report said the survey is nationally representative of the resident population aged 15 and above in each country.
Kenyan broadcaster Pulse Live said the report also conducted by the Earth Institute of Columbia University also ranked cities according to how positively citizens evaluate their lives on average and how positively citizens evaluate their future.
The various indices and variables used as yardsticks of ratings many would agree would inspire government reactions of the affected and listed countries towards boosting the livelihood of their countries.
By Francis Ogwo
Source: African News Agency
