Philippines among 'most worsened' states

MANILA, Philippines — The Fragile States Index sounded off the Philippines with a "very high warning" as it ranked 52nd most fragile country and 5th "most worsened."

The study by the United Nations Foundation released earlier this year looked into 178 nations' level of stability and pressures they face based on millions of documents, data from 2013 and "comprehensive social science methodology."

With 0 as the perfect score, the Philippines received an 85.1 score after an assessment of social and economic indicators such as uneven development, brain drain and poverty, as well as of political and military factors such as public services, human rights, factionalized elites and security.

Rankings of "Most Worsened [States] for 2014." Fragile States Index 2013

Finland ranked last in the index with 18.7 as the most stable state, while South Sudan figured with an 112.9 score as the most fragile.

"Weak and failing states pose a challenge to the international community," said the report edited by JJ Messner and assessment directed by Nate Haken.

"Pressures on one fragile state can have serious repercussions not only for that state and its people, but also for its neighbor and other states halfway across the globe," it added.

The Philippines was found to have "worsened" since the 2013 index even as it slightly improved from 2012.

Among the country's indicators that posed a downtrend the past year were those of demographic pressures, internal displacement, group grievance, public services, external intervention.

The Philippines' security apparatus continued to worsen since 2008 while the economy somewhat carried over from 2013 with no significant gains.

 The Philippines' year-on-year data and trends. The scores should be interpreted with the understanding that the lower the score, the better. Therefore, a reduced score indicates an improvement, just as a higher score indicates greater instability.

Human flight and brain drain remained to deteriorate since 2009, while uneven economic development also showed signs of improvement.

The scores on human rights and rule of law and state legitimacy similarly improved.

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