By Yunus S Saliu
In the latest Global Peace Index (GPI) ranking issued in June 2022, The Gambia has been ranked as one of the most peaceful countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the GPI 2022, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mauritius retains its first position with an overall score of 1.57 and an overall rank of 28, while Ghana ranked second with an overall score of 1.759 with an overall rank of 40 and The Gambia ranked the third position with an overall score of 1.792 with score change of -0.055 and the country’s overall rank is 45.
Meanwhile, within the top ten most peaceful countries in Sub-Saharan Africa according to this latest ranking, Botswana is 4th with an overall score of 1.801; Sierra Leone 5th – with an overall score of 1.803; Zambia 6th – with an overall score of 1.841; Equatorial Guinea 7th – overall score 1.863; Malawi 8th – overall score 1.895; Namibia 9th – 1.908 and Senegal ranked 10th with an overall score of 1.916 and its overall rank is 70.
However, the three least peaceful countries in the Sub-Saharan are South-Sudan position 44th with an overall score of 3.184 and an overall ranking is 159; the Democratic Republic of the Congo is in 43rd position with an overall score of 3.166 and 158 overall ranking while 42nd position went to Somalia with an overall score of 3.125 and 156 in the overall ranking.
According to the Global Peace Index ranking 2022; “Sub-Saharan Africa recorded a slight fall in peacefulness in the 2022 GPI, with the average country score deteriorating by 0.022 points, or one percent. Of the 44 countries in the region, 21 improved in a score, while 22 deteriorated and one remained unchanged. The region is less peaceful than the global average in the Safety and Security and Ongoing Conflict domains, but more peaceful than the global average in the Militarisation domain. Five coups as well as disputes over election results and allegations of corruption led to a rise in civil unrest and political instability across the region, resulting in an average deterioration across the region in the political terror indicator of 6.9 percent.”
In addition, the reports indicated that the largest improvement “in peacefulness in the region occurred in Zambia, which recorded a 3.9 percent improvement in its GPI score. This was largely driven by an improvement in Zambia’s relationship with its neighbours as well as a 17 percent fall in military expenditure as a percentage of GDP.”
Overall, the GPI indicates that 90 countries recorded improvements in peacefulness; 71 countries were less peaceful in 2022 than in 2021 while the average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.3 percent in the 2022 Global Peace Index.
The Global Peace Index 2022 measuring peace in a complex world is published by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress. IEP achieves its goals by developing new conceptual frameworks to define peacefulness; providing metrics for measuring peace; uncovering the relationships between business, peace, and prosperity as well as promoting a better understanding of the cultural, economic, and political factors that create peace.
