This summer, more than 200 nations are gathering in Beijing to test their skill and strength in sport, and we’re ready to cheer Canada to victory in the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. At this moment of global nexus, we thought we’d bring the competition closer to home. We’ve gathered data from top international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Economic Forum, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and others, in order to present a truly global picture.

In a few select categories, we’ve awarded gold, silver and bronze. In a number of others, we’ve assembled the data simply to highlight the state of the nations; sometimes the numbers show how much needs to be done to help the developing world, while other categories display just how far we need to go to catch up with global leaders.

valuing child care

While many countries, including our own, have excellent and devoted child care workers — a quantity that is difficult to rank — the OECD has gathered the cold, hard numbers that show the extent to which child care is a national priority in various developed nations, expressed as the percentage of national wealth spent by governments on early childhood education and care (ages birth to six). Their findings show that, in Canada, it’s not high on the list.

Gold – Denmark – 2% of GDP
Silver – Sweden – 1.7
Silver – Norway* – 1.7
4 – Finland – 1.3
5 – France – 1
14 – Canada – 0.25

concern for the environment

Every couple of years, two Ivy League schools, Yale and Columbia, create the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). The 2008 edition ranked 149 countries on 25 criteria across six categories (environmental health, air pollution, water resources, biodiversity and habitat, productive natural resources and climate change), with the reduction of environmental stresses on human health as a primary concern. Here are the top scores, out of a total of 100.

Gold – Switzerland – 95.5/100
Silver – Norway – 93.1
Silver – Sweden* – 93.1
4 – Finland – 91.4
5 – Costa Rica – 90.5
12 – Canada – 86.6

* Because of the ties, we awarded two silvers but no bronze, according to Olympic convention.

Education funding

As any educator will tell you, success in school takes dedication. These medals go to the countries that have turned that principle into national policy by devoting the highest percentage of their national wealth to education, according to numbers gathered by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Gold – Denmark – 8.3% of GPD
Silver – Iceland – 7.6
Bronze – Norway – 7.2
4 – Sweden – 7.1
5 – Finland – 6.4
17 – Canada – 5

(Note: Only member states of the OECD were included in the selection list.)

standard of health care

The World Health Organization has ranked the health care systems of almost every nation on earth, based on factors such as the health of citizens, the system’s responsiveness and the fairness of the financial contribution made by those receiving care. The list may look familiar: Michael Moore made much use of it in last year’s Oscar-nominated film Sicko. And in case you’re wondering, Andorra is a small nation high in the Pyrenees bordering France and Spain, and San Marino is a tiny republic surrounded completely by Italy.

Gold – France
Silver – Italy
Bronze – San Marino
4 – Andorra
5 – Malta
30 – Canada

ensuring a child’s well-being

UNICEF notes, “The true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children.” The organization has ranked nations that it identifies as “rich” — that have the resources to help provide a good life for kids, according to how well they are doing this. The organization looked at six dimensions, including health and safety, material and subjective well-being, and family and peer relationships. We’ve awarded medals to those who UNICEF says are doing the best.

Gold – Netherlands
Silver – Sweden
Bronze – Denmark
4 – Finland
5 – Spain
12 – Canada

non-medal categories

Best parental leave, based on a formula combining length and level of payment

1 – Sweden
2 – Hungary
3 – Finland
4 – Czech Republic
5 – Austria
12 – (tie) Canada (with Portugal)

(Source: OECD)

Lowest level of child poverty in “rich” countries

1 – Denmark – 2.4% living in “relative” poverty*
2 – Finland – 2.8
3 – Norway – 3.4
4 – Sweden – 4.2
5 – Switzerland – 6.8
5 – Czech Republic – 6.8
19 – Canada – 14.9

* Defined as households with income below 50 percent of the national median income. (Source: UNICEF)

School life expectancy (SLE), or the number of years of education a child can expect to receive, including primary, secondary and post-secondary

Australia – 20.5 SLE
Algeria – 12.8
Canada – 16.9
Japan – 15
Malawi – 9.4
Pakistan – 6.5

(Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics)

Literacy (percent of population 15 and over who can read and write)

Botswana – Male: 80.4 – Female: 81.8 – Total: 81.2
Brazil – M: 88.4 – F: 88.8 – T: 88.6
Canada – M: 99 – F: 99 – T: 99
China – M: 95.1 – F: 86.5 – T: 90.9
Israel – M: 98.5 – F: 95.9 – T: 97.1
Somalia – M: 49.7 – F: 25.8 – T: 37.8

(Source: CIA World Factbook)

Mortality rate of children under five per 1,000 live births

Afghanistan – 257
Angola – 260
Canada – 6
Iraq – 46
Jamaica – 31
Sierra Leone – 270
Sweden – 3

(Source: UNICEF)

Percentage of one-year-old children immunized against polio

Brazil – 99
Botswana – 97
Chad – 36
Canada – 94
Haiti – 52
Indonesia – 70

(Source: UNICEF)

Percentage of population using relatively safe drinking water sources

Afghanistan – 39
Canada – 100
Cuba – 91
India – 86
Somalia – 29
Venezuela – 83

(Source: UNICEF)

Single parents

(percentage of all families)

Canada – 13.9
Germany – 21.2
Ireland – 16.7
Netherlands – 13
Sweden – 23.1

United States – 26.5

(Source: OECD)

Average age of first sexual experience

Canada – 17
Germany – 15.9
Hong Kong – 18.6
Iceland – 15.6
India – 19.8
Turkey – 17.9

(Source: Durex Global Sex Survey)

Percentage of seats held by women in national parliament

Canada – 21.1
China – 20.3
Iran – 4.1
South Africa – 32.8
Sweden – 45.3
United States – 15.2

(Source: United Nations Development Programme)

Mean age at first marriage

Australia – Female: 29 – Male: 31
Canada – F: 27 – M: 30
Japan – F: 29 – M: 31
Malawi – F: 19 – M: 24
Norway – F: 31 – M: 34
Nepal – F: 19 – M: 23

(Source: United Nations Statistics Division)

Percentage married between the ages of 15 and 19

Australia – Female: 1 – Male: <1
Canada – F: 3 – M: 1
Japan – F: 1 – M: <1
Malawi – F: 37 – M: 4
Norway – F: <1 – M: <1
Nepal – F: 40 – M: 11

(Source: United Nations Statistics Division)

Annual marriage rate per 1,000 population

Canada – 4.7
Cyprus – 12.9

France – 4.7
Japan – 5.9
Korea – 6.4
Mauritius – 8.7
Mexico – 5.5
Sweden – 4.3

(Source: United Nations Statistics Division)

Life expectancy for men and women

Brazil – 72
Canada – 80
Norway – 80
Russian Federation – 65
Rwanda – 46
Somalia – 47

(Source: UNICEF)

Price of one litre of cow’s milk in Canadian dollars*

Canada – $1.77

Russian Federation – $0.80
Singapore – $1.92
South Africa – $0.66
Sweden – $1.23
United Kingdom – $1.25

*based on exchange rates on April 11, 2008 (Source: International Labour Organization)

Metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted per capita

Brazil – 1.80
Canada – 20.01
Chad – 0.01
China – 3.84
Denmark – 9.80
Saudi Arabia – 13.38

(Source: United Nations Development Programme)

Amount spent in a single year, per child, on toys

Brazil – $30
Canada – $254
France – $252
Mexico – $46
United Kingdom – $323
United States – $290

(Source: NPD Group (USA), provided for the International Council of Toy Industries)

Annual divorce rate per 1,000 population

Belarus – 3.77
Canada – 2.32
France – 1.90
Korea – 3.05
Libya – 0.32
Sweden – 2.39

(Source: United Nations Statistics Division)

S o, what does it all mean? For one, it clearly displays the reality that Canada trails many nations — sometimes by an embarrassingly wide margin — in a number of areas that are of great significance to the family. We should not be satisfied to sit in the middle of the pack. Take action by voicing your concerns to your local member of Parliament or the responsible cabinet minister — go to parl.gc.ca for contact information. These statistics also show the deep and even shocking divide that persists between rich and poor countries, and the fact that we must do more to ensure that families around the world can, at the very least, receive adequate healthcare, nutrition, education and other factors key to an acceptable standard of living. Get informed about world issues through the United Nations’ Cyber School Bus and find ways for you and your kids to get involved through UNICEF’s Voices of Youth program. Let the Olympic motto — “faster, higher, stronger” — spur you on to make this world more livable for all people.

CF‘s contributing editor, Tim Johnson, used to ski on the small hill in his backyard and pretend he was an Olympian, and while those gold-medal dreams have since faded, he still has the desire, every now and then, to take up the bobsleigh.