Hiiraan Online
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
London (HOL) – Somalia is the behind only US occupied Iraq as the worlds least peaceful country according to the fourth annual Global Peace Index issued by the Institute for Economics and Peace.
The British based think tank’s report concludes that the world is a less peaceful place this year, largely due to a rise in civil unrest and crime fuelled by the global financial crises.
The index is based on 23 factors, from relationships to neighbouring countries to potential for terrorist acts.
For the second straight year New Zealand tops the list and is one of only three countries in the top 10 to improve peacefulness in the 2010 index.
New Zealand was followed by Japan, Austria, Norway and Ireland. For the second straight year Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan and Israel sat at the opposite end of the peace spectrum.
This year’s biggest fallers were Syria, Georgia, Philippines, Russia and Cyprus. South Asia saw the greatest drop in peacefulness due to increased tensions between citizens and government which lead to violent conflict and human rights abuses.
The world’s most peaceful region was Western Europe with most countries ranking within the top 20, all five of Scandinavian countries were in the top 10.
The US ranks as 85th in the index, Kenya comes in at 120 and Ethiopia at 127. Africa’s most peaceful country according to the index is Botswana.
The London institute also says the risk of outright armed conflict appears to be falling.
According to the report global conflict carries a price tag of $7 trillion a year.
25 per cent in reduction in violence would save about $1.7 trillion a year, that would be enough to pay off the national debt in Greece and achieve the 2020 climate and carbon goals for the EU.
For the full rankings and report visit: http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi-data/#/2010/scor