The world’s most charitable nation: Myanmar!
Myanmar rank first place in the Charities Aid Foundation’s (CAF) sixth World Giving Index, holding the position for the second year running.
According to the report, the generosity of Myanmar people could be attributed to Theravada Buddhism, as charitable giving is integral to the religious observance, although the nation is one of Asia’s poorest and least developed countries.
The index measures three kinds of generosity, namely the giving of money, time and helping a stranger.
The other top 5 countries are US, New Zealand, Canada and Australia, while the least charitable nations are Palestine, Lithuania, Yemen, China and Burundi.
Second most charitable country in Southeast Asia is Malaysia, followed by Thailand. Rich Singapore ranks number 34 out of 145 countries in total. In Europe, the UK is the most generous nation, followed by the Netherlands and Ireland.
“The ranking confounds the common perception that generosity and wealth are connected to one another,” says Adam Pickering, international policy manager of the London-based foundation. Only five of the G20 countries appear in the top 20.
The World Giving Index was conducted on the Gallup methodology, where 1,000 questionnaires were completed by a representative sample of individuals living across a country. The questions were: In the last month, have you donated money to a charity; volunteered time to an organisation; helped a stranger or someone you didn’t know who needed help?
As for Myanmar, the study explains that Myanmar’s strong culture of Theravada Buddhism comes with devotees practicing Sangha Dana which continues to drive high levels of giving. Each of the three poor Asian countries in the top ten have strong Buddhist traditions, including a high number of monks who receive monetary support from ordinary laypersons. Myanmar has an estimated 500,000 monks. Theravada Buddhism also emphasises charity in the context of religious observance.
Myanmar rank first place in the Charities Aid Foundation's (CAF) sixth World Giving Index, holding the position for the second year running. According to the report, the generosity of Myanmar people could be attributed to Theravada Buddhism, as charitable giving is integral to the religious observance, although the nation is one of Asia's poorest and least developed countries. The index measures three kinds of generosity, namely the giving of money, time and helping a stranger. The other top 5 countries are US, New Zealand, Canada and Australia, while the least charitable nations are Palestine, Lithuania, Yemen, China and Burundi. Second...
Myanmar rank first place in the Charities Aid Foundation’s (CAF) sixth World Giving Index, holding the position for the second year running.
According to the report, the generosity of Myanmar people could be attributed to Theravada Buddhism, as charitable giving is integral to the religious observance, although the nation is one of Asia’s poorest and least developed countries.
The index measures three kinds of generosity, namely the giving of money, time and helping a stranger.
The other top 5 countries are US, New Zealand, Canada and Australia, while the least charitable nations are Palestine, Lithuania, Yemen, China and Burundi.
Second most charitable country in Southeast Asia is Malaysia, followed by Thailand. Rich Singapore ranks number 34 out of 145 countries in total. In Europe, the UK is the most generous nation, followed by the Netherlands and Ireland.
“The ranking confounds the common perception that generosity and wealth are connected to one another,” says Adam Pickering, international policy manager of the London-based foundation. Only five of the G20 countries appear in the top 20.
The World Giving Index was conducted on the Gallup methodology, where 1,000 questionnaires were completed by a representative sample of individuals living across a country. The questions were: In the last month, have you donated money to a charity; volunteered time to an organisation; helped a stranger or someone you didn’t know who needed help?
As for Myanmar, the study explains that Myanmar’s strong culture of Theravada Buddhism comes with devotees practicing Sangha Dana which continues to drive high levels of giving. Each of the three poor Asian countries in the top ten have strong Buddhist traditions, including a high number of monks who receive monetary support from ordinary laypersons. Myanmar has an estimated 500,000 monks. Theravada Buddhism also emphasises charity in the context of religious observance.
