Abu Dhabi: Saudis place the quality of education at the top of their priorities in their lives, while a decent job and good health come next, according to the results of a survey that measured the priorities of people in 28 leading global economies.
According to the study conducted by Ipsos in partnership with the World Economic Forum on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,
- Saudis’ order of priorities: Quality education
- Clean water and sanitation
- Decent work and economic growth
- Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- Strengthening societies for sustainable development
- Make cities and human societies inclusive, safe and sustainable
- Good health and well-being
- Clean and affordable energy
- Reduce income inequality
- Responsible consumption and production
- Climate action to address climate change and its impacts
- Gender equality and women’s empowerment
- Conservation of oceans, seas and marine resources
- Protecting terrestrial ecosystems and combating desertification
“Zero Hunger”, “Eradication of Poverty” and “Good Health and Well-being” are ranked as the top priorities for the global audience.
Aside from “the total eradication of hunger” and “the eradication of poverty”, the 28 countries differ in the order of priorities.
In the first place among the priorities of the Saudis comes “quality education”, then the infrastructure represented by clean water and sanitation, and in the third place comes decent work and economic growth, and in the seventh place comes good health and well-being.
The World Economic Forum and Ipsos asked 20,000 people in 28 countries which of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) they thought were most important. There was near unanimity about the top three priorities.
Zero hunger came top in 20 of the 28 countries, followed by ending poverty which was number one in four nations and in the top three for 19 others. In third place, people chose good health and wellbeing which was ranked number one in four nations and in the top three in 12 others.
The results show that world leaders were pretty much in tune with the global public when they chose the SDGs in 2015. The ranking the leaders picked was “No poverty” (1), “Zero hunger” (2) and “Good health and wellbeing” at number three.
The poll, conducted in partnership with the World Economic Forum, asked people to rank their next three priorities. The top choices were: “Clean water and sanitation”; “Decent work and economic growth”; and “Quality education”.
Only five other goals made it into the top three in any country, all coming in at number 3. They were: “Climate action” (UK); “Life below water” (Germany); “Peace, justice and strong institutions” (South Korea); “Reduce inequality” (Belgium); and “Gender equality” (India).
