Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Communications and Culture. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-105). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ99398

Text in English / The goal of this research was to investigate the relationship between security risk management and business continuity management and to determine how these two methodologies are applied within United Nations Funds and Programmes. These United Nations (UN) agencies have been established to deliver humanitarian aid, economic and social development and reconstruction activities. The locations where these services are required are typically where security risks are also most prevalent. The staff of the UN, the International Red Cross and other humanitarian and development organisations have traditionally been treated as neutral parties and have not been targeted by belligerent groups. This study revealed that there has been an annual increase in security incidents against aid workers and employees of UN organisations. The changing security landscape worldwide and the increasing demand for aid and development services in especially fragile and post-conflict environments, require organisations working in these areas to maintain a high level of resilience. Their resilience can be strengthened by applying robust security risk and business continuity management methodologies. The study included an examination of the global risk environment as it pertains to UN agencies, as well as key risk management concepts such as risk management, operational risk management, security risk management, business continuity management and organisational resilience. For the purposes of this study, security risk management is defined as the systematic approach to assessing and acting on security risks, while ensuring the safety and security of the organisation's personnel and facilities and ensuring that organisational objectives are achieved. Business continuity is a management process that identifies potential threats to an organisation, it assesses the impact to business operations − should the threats materialise − and it furthermore assists in the development of strategies to continue operations in the event of a disruption. In addition to looking at these concepts individually, the relationship between security risk management and business continuity management was also reviewed. The specific objectives set out to achieve the goal of the study were the following:  Explore the perceptions of UN agencies about the link between security risk management and business continuity management.  Analyse the extent of integration between security risk management and business continuity management processes and oversight.  Make recommendations as to how security risk management and business continuity management can operate in an integrated manner with the goal of increasing the overall resilience of UN agencies. To answer the research questions a qualitative research approach was adopted. This enabled the researcher to collect data through interviewing participants and analysing their feedback. The research focused on UN Funds and Programmes as a sub-set of agencies within the UN family of organisations. Each one of these agencies has a specific mandate, such as providing assistance to refugees, promoting food security, poverty reduction, improving reproductive health and family planning services. They also operate in fragile states as well as in emergency and humanitarian crises situations where the security risks are often higher than in normal developing countries. Eight out of 12 UN Funds and Programmes agreed to participate in the study, including: United Nations Children's Fund; United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; World Food Programme; United Nations Development Programme; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; United Nations Human Settlements Programme; and UN Women. Data were collected through conducting semi-structured telephone interviews with the security manager and/or business continuity manager serving in the headquarters of each participating organisation. Findings from the study indicated that security risk management within the UN system has evolved and that security has matured from a purely protective and defensive posture to following a risk management approach. The strength of the UN Security Management System lies in its Security Risk Management Model, which enables a thorough assessment of security risks and the implementation of commensurate mitigating security measures. In contrast to security risk management, the study revealed that business continuity as a management process is a fairly new initiative and has not yet been comprehensively adopted by all UN agencies. When combined, security risk management and business continuity management ensure the safety of staff, maximise the defence of the agencies’ reputation, minimise the impact of events on the agencies as well as their beneficiaries, protect the organisation’s assets, and very importantly, demonstrate effective governance. This can only be done through establishing an organisational risk management model by positioning security risk management and business continuity management within the UN agency’s organisational structure so that they can effectively work together and at the same time allow access to senior management. Good practices and apparent gaps were identified in how these two methodologies are implemented and five specific recommendations were made. The research confirmed the need for both security risk management and business continuity management and the role each function plays to enhance an organisation’s resilience. It also highlighted that while they are two separate management functions, both need to be implemented within a larger risk management framework and need to be closely aligned in order to be effective. The five recommendations are:  Incorporate security risk management and business continuity management functions and responsibilities into the larger agency-wide risk management governance framework.  Expand the scope of business continuity in those UN agencies where it currently sits in the domain of information technology or has not yet been comprehensively implemented across the organisation.  Establish a comprehensive crisis management framework spanning across the whole organisation from their headquarters to country offices.  Develop the capacity to gather risk data across their agency and aggregate the data to view the full spectrum of risks, including security risks and business continuity risks in a holistic manner.  Integrate security risk management and business continuity management processes to enhance their effectiveness. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in the field of risk management by gathering relevant information from participating UN Funds and Programmes, comparing the information with other academic sources and drawing conclusions to answer the research questions. While it is expected that each organisation will have its own view on how to implement security risk management and business continuity management, the findings and recommendations as a result of the study present a series of practical recommendations on how the two functions can operate in an integrated manner in order to increase the overall resilience of these UN agencies. Other non-UN organisations working in similar high risk environments could also benefit from the outcomes of the study, as it would allow them to compare their own approaches to security risk management and business continuity management with the information presented in this study. / Security Risk Management / M. Tech. (Security Management)

Text in English / The goal of this research was to investigate the relationship between security risk management and business continuity management and to determine how these two methodologies are applied within United Nations Funds and Programmes. These United Nations (UN) agencies have been established to deliver humanitarian aid, economic and social development and reconstruction activities. The locations where these services are required are typically where security risks are also most prevalent. The staff of the UN, the International Red Cross and other humanitarian and development organisations have traditionally been treated as neutral parties and have not been targeted by belligerent groups. This study revealed that there has been an annual increase in security incidents against aid workers and employees of UN organisations. The changing security landscape worldwide and the increasing demand for aid and development services in especially fragile and post-conflict environments, require organisations working in these areas to maintain a high level of resilience. Their resilience can be strengthened by applying robust security risk and business continuity management methodologies. The study included an examination of the global risk environment as it pertains to UN agencies, as well as key risk management concepts such as risk management, operational risk management, security risk management, business continuity management and organisational resilience. For the purposes of this study, security risk management is defined as the systematic approach to assessing and acting on security risks, while ensuring the safety and security of the organisation's personnel and facilities and ensuring that organisational objectives are achieved. Business continuity is a management process that identifies potential threats to an organisation, it assesses the impact to business operations − should the threats materialise − and it furthermore assists in the development of strategies to continue operations in the event of a disruption. In addition to looking at these concepts individually, the relationship between security risk management and business continuity management was also reviewed. The specific objectives set out to achieve the goal of the study were the following:  Explore the perceptions of UN agencies about the link between security risk management and business continuity management.  Analyse the extent of integration between security risk management and business continuity management processes and oversight.  Make recommendations as to how security risk management and business continuity management can operate in an integrated manner with the goal of increasing the overall resilience of UN agencies. To answer the research questions a qualitative research approach was adopted. This enabled the researcher to collect data through interviewing participants and analysing their feedback. The research focused on UN Funds and Programmes as a sub-set of agencies within the UN family of organisations. Each one of these agencies has a specific mandate, such as providing assistance to refugees, promoting food security, poverty reduction, improving reproductive health and family planning services. They also operate in fragile states as well as in emergency and humanitarian crises situations where the security risks are often higher than in normal developing countries. Eight out of 12 UN Funds and Programmes agreed to participate in the study, including: United Nations Children's Fund; United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; World Food Programme; United Nations Development Programme; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; United Nations Human Settlements Programme; and UN Women. Data were collected through conducting semi-structured telephone interviews with the security manager and/or business continuity manager serving in the headquarters of each participating organisation. Findings from the study indicated that security risk management within the UN system has evolved and that security has matured from a purely protective and defensive posture to following a risk management approach. The strength of the UN Security Management System lies in its Security Risk Management Model, which enables a thorough assessment of security risks and the implementation of commensurate mitigating security measures. In contrast to security risk management, the study revealed that business continuity as a management process is a fairly new initiative and has not yet been comprehensively adopted by all UN agencies. When combined, security risk management and business continuity management ensure the safety of staff, maximise the defence of the agencies’ reputation, minimise the impact of events on the agencies as well as their beneficiaries, protect the organisation’s assets, and very importantly, demonstrate effective governance. This can only be done through establishing an organisational risk management model by positioning security risk management and business continuity management within the UN agency’s organisational structure so that they can effectively work together and at the same time allow access to senior management. Good practices and apparent gaps were identified in how these two methodologies are implemented and five specific recommendations were made. The research confirmed the need for both security risk management and business continuity management and the role each function plays to enhance an organisation’s resilience. It also highlighted that while they are two separate management functions, both need to be implemented within a larger risk management framework and need to be closely aligned in order to be effective. The five recommendations are:  Incorporate security risk management and business continuity management functions and responsibilities into the larger agency-wide risk management governance framework.  Expand the scope of business continuity in those UN agencies where it currently sits in the domain of information technology or has not yet been comprehensively implemented across the organisation.  Establish a comprehensive crisis management framework spanning across the whole organisation from their headquarters to country offices.  Develop the capacity to gather risk data across their agency and aggregate the data to view the full spectrum of risks, including security risks and business continuity risks in a holistic manner.  Integrate security risk management and business continuity management processes to enhance their effectiveness. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in the field of risk management by gathering relevant information from participating UN Funds and Programmes, comparing the information with other academic sources and drawing conclusions to answer the research questions. While it is expected that each organisation will have its own view on how to implement security risk management and business continuity management, the findings and recommendations as a result of the study present a series of practical recommendations on how the two functions can operate in an integrated manner in order to increase the overall resilience of these UN agencies. Other non-UN organisations working in similar high risk environments could also benefit from the outcomes of the study, as it would allow them to compare their own approaches to security risk management and business continuity management with the information presented in this study. / Security Risk Management / M. Tech. (Security Management)

Thesis (DPhil (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Gender Mainstreaming (GM) was popularised as an approach to advance gender equality at the United Nations (UN) World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Since then it has been adopted by the UN and international development organisations as the approach to integrate women and gender issues into development. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a major international development organisation, claims a strong policy commitment to GM. As such, it is an important organisation to study for its GM implementation to establish what lessons can be learnt from its practice. Because it is an international organisation, the study has implications for global GM as well as for SA. This thesis examines mainstreaming women and gender in development in the UNDP Country Office in South Africa (UNDP/SA). It explores the gap between Gender Mainstreaming policy and practice, through discursive analysis of UNDP policy documents and reports, as well as an analysis of qualitative interview data and participatory approaches. The study focuses on the organisational challenges facing institutions trying to mainstream gender, particularly in the South African context. It puts forward a proposal for improving GM by combining organisational development and feminist theory. Through the proposal, which focuses on a broad transformation process within which to frame GM implementation, the thesis aims to contribute towards advancing gender equality through GM in South Africa and elsewhere. Development was initially gender-blind until the early 1970s. Since then, development organisations have moved women and gender onto the development agenda through various approaches. The major approaches have been Women in Development (WID), Gender and Development (GAD) and Empowerment. The current approach, Gender Mainstreaming (GM), is about moving women and gender issues from the margin to the centre of development organisations and their practice. While being an improvement on the earlier approaches, GM still faces a number of challenges for successful implementation in development organisations such as the UNDP. This qualitative study interrogates the GM policy discourse of the UNDP/SA, and finds a serious gap between its policy discourse and practice. This gap is evident not only in the UNDP/SA, but also in one of its funded projects, the Capacity Building Project for the Office on the Status of Women. GM fails to make an impact because of factors such as lack of training, absence of political will from senior managers in development organisations (and in government), and lack of resources. It is also clear that GM cannot occur in the absence of a broad organisational transformation process. To address the challenges facing GM, I propose a model for implementation with a special focus on the deep structure of organisations that exposes the masculinist roots of gender inequality. What is essential for this model to succeed is that GM implementation should be framed within a broader organisational transformation process, based on organisational development and feminist theory. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geslagshoofstroming het gewildheid verwerf as ‘n benadering om geslagsgelykheid te bevorder by die Verenigde Nasies (VN) se Wêreld Konferensie oor Vroue in Beijing in 1995. Daarna is dit deur die VN en internasionale ontwikkelingsorganisasies aanvaar as die benadering om vroue en geslagskwessies te integreer in ontwikkeling. Die Verenigde Nasies Ontwikkelings Program (VNOP), ‘n vername internasionale ontwikkelingsorganisasie, maak aanspraak op ‘n sterk toewyding aan Geslagshoofstroming as beleid. Die VNOP is dus ‘n belangrike organisasie om te bestudeer vir sy Geslagshoofstroming implementering om vas te stel watter lesse ons kan leer. Die studie het implikasies nie net vir Suid-Afrika nie, maar ook globaal omdat die VNOP ‘n internasionale organisasie is. Die tesis ondersoek die hoofstroming van vroue en geslag in ontwikkeling in die VNOP Kantoor in Suid-Afrika (VNOP/SA). Dit verken die gaping tussen Geslagshoofstroming beleid en praktyk deur middel van ‘n diskoers analise van VNOP beleids-dokumente en verslae, en ‘n analise van data verkry deur kwalitatiewe onderhoude. Die studie fokus op die organisatoriese uitdagings vir die instellings wat Geslagshoofstroming probeer implementeer, veral in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Dit stel ‘n kombinasie van organisatoriese ontwikkeling en feministiese teorie voor om Geslagshoofstroming te bevorder. Die tesis streef daarna, deur die voorstel wat fokus op Geslagshoofstroming as deel van ‘n breë transformasie proses, om by te dra tot die bevordering van geslagsgelykheid in Suid-Afrika en elders. Ontwikkeling was aanvanklik geslagsblind tot met die vroeë 1970s. Sedertdien het ontwikkelingsorganisasies vroue en geslagskwessies op die agenda geplaas deur verskeie benaderings. Die vernaamste benaderings was Vroue in Ontwikkeling (WID), Geslag en Ontwikkeling (GAD), en Bemagtiging (Empowerment). Die huidige benadering, Geslagshoofstroming, het ten doel om vroue en geslagskwessies vanaf die kantlyn te beweeg tot in die kernpunt van ontwikkelings-organisasies en hulle praktyke. Alhoewel dit ‘n verbetering op die vorige benaderings is, staar Geslagshoofstroming implementering nog ‘n aantal uitdagings in die gesig in ontwikkelingsorganisasies soos die VNOP. Die kwalitatiewe studie interrogeer die Geslagshoofstromings diskoers van die VNOP/SA en vind ‘n ernstige gaping tussen sy beleidsdiskoers en praktyk. Hierdie gaping is sigbaar nie net in die VNOP/SA nie, maar ook in een van sy befondsde projekte, die Kapasiteitsbou Projek vir die Kantoor vir die Status van Vroue. Geslagshoofstroming maak nie impak nie as gevolg van faktore soos ‘n gebrek aan opleiding, die afwesigheid van politieke wilskrag by senior bestuurders in ontwikkelingsorganisasies (en in die regering), en ‘n gebrek aan hulpbronne. Dit is ook duidelik dat Geslagshoofstroming nie kan plaasvind in die afwesigheid van ‘n breë organisatoriese transformasie proses nie. Om die uitdagings vir Geslagshoofstroming aan te spreek, stel ek ‘n implementeringsmodel voor met ‘n spesiale fokus op die diep struktuur van organisasies wat die maskulinistiese oorsprong van geslagsongelykheid blootlê. Noodsaaklik vir die sukses van die model, is die kontekstualisering van Geslagshoofstroming in breë organisatoriese transformasie, gebaseer op ‘n kombinasie van feministiese en organisatoriese ontwikkelingsteorie.

This study had two major purposes: (a) to investigate and compare the perceptions of District Education Officers, principals and teachers about the management of secondary school effectiveness in Zimbabwe and (b) to probe contextualised secondary school management initiatives that could trigger school effectiveness in Zimbabwe. The study is divided into six interlinked chapters. In the first chapter, the problem of intractability in the management of school effectiveness in Zimbabwe's secondary schools is focused upon. The second chapter attempts to highlight the resource, social, economic, political and cultural realities of secondary school life in developing countries (including Zimbabwe) from which any theories of school management and school effectiveness must derive. The third chapter, explores different ways to understand and interpret the realities described in chapter two. To do this, the chapter focuses on ways in which "modern" and traditional" practices intersect in secondary school in Zimbabwe to produce bureaucratic facades. The fourth chapter, which is largely imbedded In the context theory, emerges from chapters one, two and three and focuses on the methodology and methods used in this study. Chapter five, which subsequently matures into a suggested framework for managing secondary school effectiveness in Zimbabwe, contains perceptual data which were obtained from 16 District Education Officers, 262 secondary school principals and 5 secondary school teachers drawn from 8 provinces, 4 provinces and 1 province respectively. Factor analysis of the existing situation In Zimbabwe's secondary schools produced 7 major variables that were perceived to be associated with secondary school management intractability In Zimbabwe: • lack of clear vision about what should constitute secondary school effectiveness; • management strategies that lack both vertical and horizontal congruence; • inappropriate organisational structures; • rhetorical policies and procedures; • inadequate material and non-material resources; • lack of attention to both internal and external environments of secondary schools; and • inadequate principal capacity-building. These perceptual data, subsequently crystallized into the following suggested management initiatives: • establishment of goals and outcomes achievable by the majority of learners; • establishment of clear and contextualised indicators for secondary schooling goals and outcomes; • establishment of democratic and flexible organisational and secondary school management processes; and • replacement of ''ivory tower", rhetoria~l policies and procedures with contextualised ones / Teacher Education / D. Ed. (Education Management)

This study had two major purposes: (a) to investigate and compare the perceptions of District Education Officers, principals and teachers about the management of secondary school effectiveness in Zimbabwe and (b) to probe contextualised secondary school management initiatives that could trigger school effectiveness in Zimbabwe. The study is divided into six interlinked chapters. In the first chapter, the problem of intractability in the management of school effectiveness in Zimbabwe's secondary schools is focused upon. The second chapter attempts to highlight the resource, social, economic, political and cultural realities of secondary school life in developing countries (including Zimbabwe) from which any theories of school management and school effectiveness must derive. The third chapter, explores different ways to understand and interpret the realities described in chapter two. To do this, the chapter focuses on ways in which "modern" and traditional" practices intersect in secondary school in Zimbabwe to produce bureaucratic facades. The fourth chapter, which is largely imbedded In the context theory, emerges from chapters one, two and three and focuses on the methodology and methods used in this study. Chapter five, which subsequently matures into a suggested framework for managing secondary school effectiveness in Zimbabwe, contains perceptual data which were obtained from 16 District Education Officers, 262 secondary school principals and 5 secondary school teachers drawn from 8 provinces, 4 provinces and 1 province respectively. Factor analysis of the existing situation In Zimbabwe's secondary schools produced 7 major variables that were perceived to be associated with secondary school management intractability In Zimbabwe: • lack of clear vision about what should constitute secondary school effectiveness; • management strategies that lack both vertical and horizontal congruence; • inappropriate organisational structures; • rhetorical policies and procedures; • inadequate material and non-material resources; • lack of attention to both internal and external environments of secondary schools; and • inadequate principal capacity-building. These perceptual data, subsequently crystallized into the following suggested management initiatives: • establishment of goals and outcomes achievable by the majority of learners; • establishment of clear and contextualised indicators for secondary schooling goals and outcomes; • establishment of democratic and flexible organisational and secondary school management processes; and • replacement of ''ivory tower", rhetoria~l policies and procedures with contextualised ones / Teacher Education / D. Ed. (Education Management)

The purpose of this study was to identify the role of nongovernmental organizations in Nicaragua and their impact on the status of women. The study analyzed the status of women at the beginning of the revolution, starting in 1980. The study then examined the evolution of non-governmental organizations deriving from the original group named the Luisa Amanda Espinosa Association of Nicaraguan Women (AMNLAE). It then described the impact of non-governmental organizations on policy making and building civic societies. Ultimately, this study analyzed the status of women thirty years after the revolution and demonstrates through institutionalism that because of the effect of non-governmental organizations on society, the status of women has improved. It then concluded that nongovernmental and intergovernmental organizations are necessary for building civic societies wherein gender equality is accepted.

There is a consensus within the United Nations (UN), as well as various governmental entities, politicians, individuals, scholars, and academic communities, on the need to reform governmental performances. However, there is no unanimity among them pertaining to a specific reforming model that is valid for all contexts worldwide. Accordingly, many performance management processes and practical techniques have been put into practice, which aim at improving governmental institutions' performance. Hence, the purpose of this research is to develop, by studying the public health services that are provided by the government, an effective model, with the aim of improving governmental performance in the context of Bahrain. With regard to originality and values, the research discerns that among the many factors affecting governmental entities' performance, there are two dominant contextual factors, i.e. the sociocultural and political forces, both of which synergise with the so-called United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Good Governance Approach. The study develops a new perspective on the Interactive Complex Intervention Model (ICIM), stemming from the Grounded Theory (GT) and Normalisation Process Theory/Model (NPT/M), as disclosed in practical terms by the outcomes of the data gathered and its analysis. In fact, although those elements influence all other factors, there are interactive correlative impacts among all factors. Despite these outcomes, the data obtained from the research cannot be generalised, as they are derived from the local context of Bahrain; certainly until now, they can allow other similar contexts in particular to implement the insights reported in this study. It is important to note that the most influencing factor enabling this research, which aims to develop the ICIM for reforming governmental entities' performance in Bahrain, is the salient points raised in Imam Ali's famous consultative letter to the Governor of Egypt, Malik Ashtar, which he wrote while he was the Caliph, as scholars regard this letter as a basic guide for the Islamic administration and the UNDP Good Governance Approach. Regarding the practical implications, the research has attempted to empirically understand the role of the aforementioned primary contributing forces, that are regarded as the critical prerequisite - the first step that allows the governments' decision makers, based on the underlying knowledge involved in the work, to forthwith provide them with several contextual practical insights towards adopting the ICIM in order to enhance and reform the government entities' performance.

This is an interdiscliplinary qualitative study which uses an exploratory research design and builds on Fariclough's Critical Discourse Analysis methodology to analyze the discourses surrounding an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for livelihood development project in Jamaica, introduced by the United Nations Development Programme - the Jamaica Sustainable Development Networking Programme (JSDNP). The primary objective of this project is to provide the poor in Jamaican communities with access to, and training in ICTs. In this research, I specifically focus on the discourses surrounding the JSDNP Cybercentre Project for a group of microenterprise entrepreneurs in the Jamaican tourism industry to access the epistemological assumptions of this project. From the data collected it was found that at one level, the JSDNP Cybercentre Project encouraged specific ways of acting and organizing congruent with the configurations, processes and structures of corporate firms of industrialized countries, by representing the achievement of livelihood expansion through the use of specific ICTs in a particular way which excluded other discourses. The particular ways of acting and organizing promoted by the Cybercentre encouraged the use of non-indigenous technologies, undervalued indigenous technologies and excluded the indigenization of non-indigenous technologies. These discourses were incompatible with the operational and structural configurations of trans-temporal poor entrepretrepreneurs interviewed and were more favourable to the non-poor and spatio-temporal ones. One of the wider implications of the discourse therefore was that they play a fundamental role in perpetuating entrenched inequalities through the preservation of social practices, along with their associated systems and structures. It was also found that these modalities limited the operational processes of all microenterprise entrepreneurs who were exposed to the Cybercentre Project. These entrepreneurs have limited control over the configuration of non-indigenous technologies; their technological and creative capabilities are restricted; their ability to indigenize non-indigenous technologies impaired; and they are highly dependent on non-indigenous technologies (which themselves have a number of limitations).

Nowadays quality of life is often discussed topic. In defining this term, there is considerable ambiguity and disunity, since there is no universally accepted definition, nor theoretically sophisticated model. However, despite this fact, the level of quality of life is currently one of the most discussed topic. Monitoring the quality of life by using a variety of indicators are engaged in several international organizations, one of them is the Development Programme of the United Nations. This organization annually publishes the Human Development Index, which divides the world´s countries into four groups according to their level of development: low, medium, high and very high development. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the quality of life in 125 countries by using cluster analysis, accurately the Ward's method. Quality of life in this thesis is evaluated based on 19 demographic and economic indicators, which include life expectancy, literacy rate, access to drinking water and infant mortality rate. The cluster analysis divided the country into individual clusters by their similarities. Six clusters were created by this analysis, which had been compared with the results of Human Development Index. The clusters very well reflect the division, which is commonly used in the characterization of developing and developed countries. Each of the six clusters can be very well described and characterized in terms of quality of life. It is also possible qualify those clusters as poorest developing, low developed, moderately developed, medium development, high and very high development countries. Based on the results it can be stated that this analysis is consistent with other indicators of quality of life and the resulting clusters are identical with the division of countries which is commonly used.