Social Inclusion Index MENA · A-SCOPE · Adapted from Huxley et al. (2012)
Forthcoming: Oxford University Press Explore Data Contact
Key Findings
Finding 01 —Tunisia leads on perceived inclusion · Composite 68.6 · Satisfaction paradox: lower expectations → higher reported quality of life
Finding 02 —Gulf states lead on objective access · Qatar ranks 2nd (59.8) on material conditions — devices, housing, banking, employment
Finding 03 —95-point digital divide across MENA · Lebanon & Kuwait lead · Iraq & Yemen near zero — conflict-driven infrastructure collapse
Finding 04 —Conflict defines the bottom two · Iraq (27.0) & Yemen (32.0) rank last · Low scores reflect displacement, not development failure
A-SCOPE MENA · 2025 · N=1,859 RESPONDENTS · 11 DIMENSIONS
95
points separate the highest and lowest scoring countries on Digital Equality — the widest gap of any dimension across the MENA region
LEBANON 100 · IRAQ 0 · MIN-MAX NORMALISED 0–100 · SOURCE: A-SCOPE MENA
Geographic Overview · 10 Countries

A-SCOPE MENA — Regional Index

Low
High Composite 0–100
Hover to inspect · Click country to open full profile · Plotly choropleth · ISO-3 country codes
A-SCOPE MENA · 2025 · Huxley et al. (2012) Adapted

Social
Inclusion
in the
Arab World

The first comprehensive measurement of social inclusion across 10 Arab League states — 11 dimensions, 1,859 respondents, a 100-point national index.

10
MENA
Countries
1,859
Survey
Respondents
11
Social
Dimensions
Explore the Index → About A-SCOPE
Social Inclusion Index — Composite Score0–100 Scale
Principal Investigators
Dr Anis Ben Brik
Dr. Anis Ben Brik
Principal Investigator · A-SCOPE MENA
Principal Investigator · A-SCOPE MENA

Associate Professor, Faculty of Communication, Culture & Society, USI Switzerland. Affiliated with Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Dr. Ben Brik leads social inclusion measurement research in the Arab world, combining survey methodology, social policy analysis, and governance studies. A-SCOPE MENA is the first validated social inclusion instrument adapted for the MENA region.

USI Switzerland Hamad Bin Khalifa University A-SCOPE adapted with C. Taylor Brown Adapted from Huxley et al. 2012
Purpose & Scholarly Context

What is A-SCOPE MENA?

The Instrument

A-SCOPE MENA (Adapted Social and Community Opportunities Profile — MENA) is an adaptation of the validated SCOPE instrument (Huxley et al., 2012), developed at the London School of Economics. The original SCOPE measures subjective and objective social inclusion across 8 life domains. Ben Brik & Taylor Brown extended it with 3 new domains — Civic & Cultural Inclusion, Environment, and Service Provision — critical to social inclusion in Arab governance contexts.

Forthcoming: Oxford University Press

The research findings are being published as Social Inclusion in the MENA Region — an edited volume with Oxford University Press. This represents the first systematic, survey-based comparative study of social inclusion across the Arab world, drawing on original data from 10 countries and providing policy recommendations grounded in the 11-dimension A-SCOPE framework.

The 11 Dimensions

The index covers: Leisure & Participation · Digital Equality & Well-being · Housing & Accommodation · Safety · Finance · Education · Health · Family & Social Relationships · Civic & Cultural Inclusion · Environment · Service Provision & Access. Each dimension comprises multiple items measuring opportunity of access, participation, perceived opportunities, and satisfaction.

Survey Design

Data were collected from 1,859 respondents across 10 Arab League states: Jordan (n=299), Morocco (n=254), Egypt (n=253), Yemen (n=252), Tunisia (n=250), Kuwait (n=128), Qatar (n=119), Lebanon (n=103), Iraq (n=101), Saudi Arabia (n=100). Scores are normalised 0–100 using min-max scaling across countries; the composite is the unweighted mean of 11 dimension scores.

Instrument Structure
Adapted from Huxley et al. (2012) SCOPE · Extended by Ben Brik & Taylor Brown (2025)
Original SCOPE
8 Core Domains
Leisure · Digital · Housing · Safety · Finance · Education · Health · Social
A-SCOPE Extension
3 New MENA Domains
Civic & Cultural · Environment · Service Provision & Access
Item Types
4 Measurement Constructs
Opportunity of Access · Participation · Perceived Opportunities · Satisfaction
Reference: Huxley, P. et al. (2012). Health Technology Assessment, 16(1). | Ben Brik, A. & Taylor Brown, C. (2025). A-SCOPE MENA.
Key Contributions
01
First MENA Adaptation
SCOPE adapted for Arabic-speaking populations across 10 governance systems
02
3 New Domains
Civic, environment, and service access — absent from original, critical in MENA
03
Oxford University Press Book
Forthcoming edited volume on social inclusion in the MENA region
04
Composite Index
Normalised 0–100 across 11 dimensions, comparable across 10 states
"Social inclusion in MENA is not uniform — it varies profoundly by dimension and by country. A-SCOPE reveals where opportunities exist, where they are absent, and what structural barriers explain the differences between Arab states."
Ben Brik, A. & Taylor Brown, C. (2025) · A-SCOPE MENA · Forthcoming, Oxford University Press
01
Finding 01
Tunisia Leads Overall
Tunisia scores 71.9 on the composite index, driven by high performance across leisure, housing, safety, finance, social, and environment dimensions — though substantial room for improvement remains.
Finding 02
Civic Engagement Lowest
Morocco scores 0.0 (the minimum) on Civic & Cultural inclusion. Across all 10 countries, civic engagement is consistently the weakest dimension — reflecting structural barriers to political participation in MENA.
Finding 03
Stark Digital Divide
Yemen (0.0) vs. Lebanon (96.8) on digital equality — an extreme gap reflecting the intersection of conflict, infrastructure, and governance in determining digital access.
Index Results · N=1,859 · 11 Dimensions

Complete Social Inclusion
Index Data

All scores normalised 0–100 (min–max across countries). Composite = unweighted mean of 11 dimension scores. Source: Ben Brik & Taylor Brown (2025), A-SCOPE MENA.

Composite Index — 50% objective access + 50% perceived satisfaction. Use buttons to switch tracks.
Social Inclusion Composite Index — 10 Countries Ranked
Normalised 0–100 · Green ≥65 · Amber ≥45 · Terracotta <45
High ≥65
Mid ≥45
Low <45
Ben Brik, A. & Taylor Brown, C. (2025). Social Inclusion Index MENA — A-SCOPE. N=1,859. 11 dimensions, normalised 0–100.
Dimension Comparison — All 10 Countries
4 selected dimensions · Grouped bars · 0–100 scale
Ben Brik & Taylor Brown (2025). A-SCOPE MENA.
Five-Dimension Radar — All Countries
Leisure · Digital · Safety · Social · Civic · 0–100 axes
Ben Brik & Taylor Brown (2025). A-SCOPE MENA.
Full Dimension Heatmap — 10 Countries × 11 Dimensions (0–100)
Forest Green=high · Amber=mid · Terracotta=low · Hover for exact score
≥70
≥50
≥30
<30
Ben Brik, A. & Taylor Brown, C. (2025). A-SCOPE MENA. 11 dimensions normalised 0–100 via min-max across 10 countries. N=1,859.
Stacked Dimension Groups — All Countries
Green=Participation · Rose=Wellbeing · Amber=Networks · 0–100
Ben Brik & Taylor Brown (2025). A-SCOPE MENA.
Digital Equality Score — Country Ranking
Normalised 0–100 · Yemen=0 vs Lebanon=96.8
Ben Brik & Taylor Brown (2025). A-SCOPE MENA.
11 Dimensions — Descriptions, Measures & Figures

What Each Dimension Measures

Click any dimension to expand its description, measurement items, and country scores. All scores normalised 0–100.

Publications

Research Outputs

A-SCOPE MENA will be published in an Oxford University Press edited volume alongside a validated instrument paper.

Oxford University Press · Edited Volume · Forthcoming
Social Inclusion in the MENA Region
Edited by Anis Ben Brik & C. Taylor Brown
Oxford University Press · Forthcoming 2025/2026
Request information ↗
The first edited volume providing a systematic, survey-based comparative study of social inclusion across 10 Arab League states, grounded in the 11-dimension A-SCOPE framework with full country analyses and policy recommendations.
Social Policy and Society · Journal Article · 2024
Global Trends in Social Inclusion and Social Inclusion Policy: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda
Brik, A. B., & Brown, C. T. (2024)
Social Policy and Society, 1–24.
Cambridge University Press
Access article ↗
Systematic review of global social inclusion trends and policy frameworks — establishing the scholarly foundation for the A-SCOPE MENA project.
International Journal of Community and Social Development · 2024
Welfare Regime Typologies: The Six Worlds of Social Inclusion
Brown, C. T., & Brik, A. B. (2024)
International Journal of Community and Social Development.
Cambridge University Press
Access article ↗
Identifies six distinct welfare regime typologies for social inclusion — providing the comparative theoretical framework applied in A-SCOPE MENA.
Social Policy and Society · Journal Article · 2025
Critical Review of Conceptualisation and Measurement of Social Inclusion: Directions for Conceptual Clarity
Ben Brik, A., & Brown, C. T. (2025)
Social Policy and Society, 1–18.
Cambridge University Press
Access article ↗
Critical review of how social inclusion has been conceptualised and measured across the literature — identifying key ambiguities and proposing directions for greater conceptual clarity in future measurement frameworks.
Working Paper / Instrument · 2025
A-SCOPE MENA: Adapting the Social and Community Opportunities Profile for the Arab World
Ben Brik, A. & Taylor Brown, C. (2025)
Adapted from: Huxley, P. et al. (2012). Health Technology Assessment, 16(1), 1–248. DOI: 10.3310/hta16010
Request pre-print ↗
Full methodological paper describing the adaptation of SCOPE for 10 Arabic-speaking populations, cross-cultural validation, psychometric properties of the 11-dimension instrument, and the comparative scoring methodology.
Stakeholders & Impact

Who Benefits

01
Governments
Targeted Social Policy
Dimension-level scores show exactly where social exclusion is highest within each country — enabling ministries to direct investment to housing, civic rights, digital infrastructure, or health.
02
Civil Society
Evidence for Advocacy
Cross-country data gives NGOs, community organisations, and VOPEs hard evidence to advocate for civic participation, safer communities, and better services.
03
Researchers
Validated Instrument
A-SCOPE MENA provides a validated, 202-item social inclusion questionnaire adapted for Arabic-speaking populations — available for longitudinal and comparative research.
04
Int'l Organisations
Capacity Planning
UNDP, World Bank, Arab League, and regional development banks gain granular dimension-level data to calibrate social inclusion programming across MENA.
Research Team

The People Behind
A-SCOPE MENA

01
Principal Investigator
Dr. Anis Ben Brik
Associate Professor · USI Switzerland · Hamad Bin Khalifa University · MENA Social Inclusion Research
02
Research Assistant
C. Taylor Brown
PhD Candidate · Social Welfare & Critical Theory · UC Berkeley
03
Research Assistant
Qihao Liang
PhD Student · University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI · Social Policy & Quantitative Methods
04
Advisor
Prof. Neil Gilbert
Chernin Professor Emeritus of Social Welfare · UC Berkeley · Welfare Policy & Comparative Social Policy
Get In Touch

Let's Work
Together

We welcome collaboration with researchers, policymakers, and civil society organisations advancing social inclusion in MENA.

Principal Investigator
Dr. Anis Ben Brik
anis.ben.brik@usi.ch
Affiliation
USI Switzerland · Hamad Bin Khalifa University
Forthcoming Publication
Social Inclusion in MENA
Oxford University Press
Instrument Based On
Huxley et al. (2012) SCOPE
Health Technology Assessment, 16(1)