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industry have led to unchecked pollution. Most of these countries are beginning to recognize the problems and take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to protect threatened wildlife. In North Africa two areas of social concern are tolerance and inclusion and access to advanced education. Tolerance and inclusionmean accepting people of all ethnicities, genders, sexual preferences, religions, and social status. Unfortunately, in many North and East African nations, there is a great deal of discrimination, especially between genders. Women in some of these countries do not receive the same level of education, and some are not allowed to own property. Religious tolerance is also low in many of these countries, and tolerance of same-sex relationships is mixed. Much work is needed in these categories of social progress. When it comes to advanced education, these countries have begun to recognize its importance and to allot more resources to provide it. In the following chapters, you will learn more about the social progress of these countries. The information is based on the Social Progress Index (SPI), a compilation by the Social Progress Imperative of dozens of measurements that paint a picture of a country’s status when it comes to social progress. You will learn in what areas North and East African countries scored higher and in which areas they scored lowest. It is important to remember that, although some categories show more improvement than others, in most of these countries significant work is still needed before they compare in a positive way to other countries of the world. The good news, however, is that the people of these countries are taking action so that more work can be done. Other agencies, such as the World Bank, are also working with governments in these countries to take steps to improve the social conditions within their borders.

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S OCIAL P ROGRESS IN A FRICA : N ORTHERN AND E ASTERN