By May 16th 2013, the MY World survey had mobilized over 570 000 participants in 190 countries to vote for their most important priorities. The data that the survey is generating yields important information not only on global priorities, but also how these differ by characteristics: by gender, age, education level, and location.

This paper provides information on the current findings at a global and sub-global level.

The top seven global priorities so far are:

• A good education
• Better healthcare
• An honest and responsive government
• Better job opportunities
• Access to clean water and sanitation
• Affordable and nutritious food
• Protection against crime and violence

Over three-quarters of participants are from developing countries– nearly half (48%) from low HDI countries; another 29% from medium HDI countries

57% of participants completed the survey using pen and paper and are likely to be amongst the poorest (without internet access, mobile phones).  Of those, 67% were from rural areas.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of participants are under the age of 30 and hence are the decision makers of tomorrow

45% of participants have low education levels and are likely to be poor (education is used as a proxy for income in most surveys) — 21% of participants didn’t finish primary school; another 24% only finished primary school

MY World is an on-going project and the results are continually changing as new data comes in. See the latest results for yourself online: results.myworld2015.org.

Claire Melamed, Paul Ladd