Bahrain ranking rises in global peace index

BAHRAIN has once again improved its rankings in a key peace index that evaluated 163 countries.

The kingdom has been ranked the eighth most peaceful country in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, according to the 2022 Global Peace Index (GPI), which is a leading measure of global peacefulness.

Bahrain ranks 99 among 163 countries in the 16th edition of the GPI, which was released yesterday by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a think tank based in Sydney, Australia.

It was placed 102 in the same index last year, 110 in 2020, 124 in 2019, 130 in 2018, 131 in 2017, and 132 in 2016.

Bahrain’s climb up the GPI has also been attributed to a low crime rate and a drop in terrorism-related incidents in the last few years, as a result of strict laws and tightened security.

Bahrain’s overall score in the report was 2.085 out of five, with a lower score indicating a more peaceful country.

Terrorism impact was assessed and 86 countries witnessed improvement while 18 recorded deteriorations.

Total deaths from terrorism have been declining since 2015, the report pointed out.

“The largest improvements occurred in Spain, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Bahrain and Sweden,” it added.

Iceland remains the most peaceful country, a position it has held since 2008. It is joined at the top of GPI by New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark and Austria. For the fifth consecutive year, Afghanistan is the least peaceful country, followed by Yemen, Syria, Russia and South Sudan.

Russia and Ukraine were two of the five countries that saw the largest deterioration in peace. They were joined by Guinea, Burkina Faso and Haiti and the worsening situations in these countries were due to ongoing conflict.

“The Mena remains the least peaceful region in the world for the seventh consecutive year, despite recording improvements since 2020,”stated the report.

Mena improved by 0.034 points, or 1.4 per cent, from 2021 to 2022.

The report noted that the cost of violence to the global economy was $16.5 trillion last year, or 10.9pc of global GDP, which is equivalent to $2,117 per person.

Furthermore, the report stated that the Covid-19 pandemic pushed countries towards economic and political crises.

Countries that had become progressively more peaceful experienced outbreaks of protests and violence over governments’ handling of the pandemic.

South Asia was the region with the highest frequency and intensity of violent demonstrations with India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan registering their highest levels.

The index pointed out that the rise in costs had increased food insecurity and political instability globally, with Africa, South Asia and the Middle East under the ‘greatest threat’.

Overall, the latest report stated that the average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.3pc in 2021. This is the 11th deterioration in peacefulness in the last 14 years.

“Last year we warned about the economic fallout from Covid-19,” said IEP founder and executive chairman Steve Killelea.

“We are now experiencing supply chain shortages, rising inflation, and food insecurity that have been compounded by the tragic events in Ukraine.

“The political and economic consequences of this will reverberate for years to come.”

He added the economic value of lost peace reached record levels in 2021.

“There is a need to reverse this trend, and the GPI has shown that those countries that implement the attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies, witness an improved economic outcome.”

Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1115078/Bahrain-ranking-rises-in-global-peace-index