Namibia moves up in Global Peace Index

WINDHOEK, 21 AUG  – Namibia has moved seven places up in the Global Peace Index (GPI) and is now ranked the 43rd most peaceful country out of 168 countries.
The 2018 GPI was released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) on Tuesday and ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness.
The GPI found that the global level of peace deteriorated by 0,27 per cent in the past year, marking the fourth successive year of deterioration.
Ninety-two countries deteriorated, while 71 countries improved.
It further revealed that tension, conflicts and crises that emerged in the past decade remain unresolved, especially in the Middle East, resulting in a gradual sustained fall in peacefulness.
Namibia further ranked sixth in Sub-Saharan Africa’s regional ranking, after Mauritius, Botswana, Sierra Leone, Madagascar and Ghana who ranked as the top five most peaceful countries in the region.
Zambia, Angola, Zimbabwe and South Africa were ranked eighth, 17th, 29th and 30th.
The largest regional improvements were in terrorism impact, perceptions of criminality, violent crime, neighbouring countries’ relations, and militarisation, but those were offset by deteriorations in violent demonstrations, refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, and political terror.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia and South Sudan ranked the worst in regional peace at 42, 43 and 44 out of the 44 sub-Saharan countries.
The largest deterioration in the region was recorded by the DRC, which the report attributed to President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down at the end of his second and final term at the end of 2016 which led to increasing violence, particularly in the country’s eastern provinces.
Meanwhile, Iceland, New Zealand, Austria, Portugal and Denmark ranked as the top five peaceful countries in the world, while South Sudan, Afghanistan and Syria ranked the worst in terms of global peace.
The IEP is an independent and non-profit institution based in Sydney, Australia which is dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable and tangible measure of human well-being and progress.

NAMPA