Worrying growth in global inequality in peace has been measured. The most peaceful countries are said to be continuing to improve while the least peaceful seem to be falling into greater violence and conflict. It is said that amidst such deterioration worldwide, the global agenda of governments is to continue spending vast resources on creating and containing violence and very little on implementing structures to bring about peace.
#Goal16 recognises that to reduce violence, there is a need to focus on building the structures that maintain Positive Peace. #PP2016 #SDGs pic.twitter.com/jqw8R37Lia
— Global Peace Index (@GlobPeaceIndex) September 27, 2016
The report acknowledges that many of the challenges facing humanity are fundamentally global in nature, such as climate change, decreasing biodiversity, continued economic instability and increasing migration, but it also shows the impact terrorism has had across the world as another significant contributor.
The world is witnessing in real-time one of the worst humanitarian disasters across war zones such as Syria, Libya and Iraq and the number of refugees displaced as a result of conflicts in those regions and traveling into Europe is at an all-time high, rising by the day.
There are nine countries listed with more than 10 percent of their population classified as refugees or displaced persons, with Somalia and South Sudan having more than 20 percent of their population displaced and Syria with over 60 percent displaced, according to the Peace Index.
In Mexico there were a recorded 30,000 murders related to the internal drug wars this year as opposed to any military conflict. This is said to put the country in the same danger classifications as the likes of Iraq and Afghanistan.
As conflict impacts the economy in the immediate term, the impact of conflict is also long term — reducing future development opportunities. pic.twitter.com/6OaRlO0j3E
— Global Peace Index (@GlobPeaceIndex) September 26, 2016
On the positive side, peace improved across North, South and Central America and the global commitment to funding the UN peacekeeping mission is at an all time high. Countries such as the UK have had the largest drop in total crime of all wider European countries over the last decade.
Among all of the countries surveyed, Iceland in Europe is said to be the most peaceful countries in the world.
Unsurprisingly, Syria is the least peaceful.
Countries that showed greatest progress in terms of peace are said to be Panama, Thailand, Colombia and Sri Lanka.
But regardless of the findings from this latest index, it does suggest that much more international action and positive dialogue is needed to improve the levels of peace in the world today and well into the future.
