Ghana Ranked Second Most Peaceful Country In Sub-Saharan Africa – GPI Report
Ghana has been ranked second most peaceful country in the sub-Saharan Africa region only behind Mauritius.
This is according to the 2021 edition of the Global Peace Index(GPI) report released earlier this week.
The country’s overall score was 1.715 which placed it as 38th most peaceful country on the global ranking of 163 countries.
Completing the top five most peaceful African countries are Botswana, Sierra Leone and The Gambia in that order.
Ghana’s position meant the country had gone two steps up from last year’s global ranking of 40th. Per the 2021 global scores, Ghana is sandwiched between Lithuania and Costa Rica.
Incidentally, the report came out at a time Ghanaians are expressing grave concerns about rising insecurity following the murder of a bullion van police escort and a hawker in Jamestown plus a series of robbery incidents across the country.
Africa’s five least peaceful countries
At the bottom of the sub-Saharan African ladder is South Sudan, Africa’s least peaceful country according to the report with the country ranked 160th.
Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya and Central African Republic completed the worst five in that order.
The sixth to tenth slot was occupied by Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon and Ethiopia.
The GPI is an annual report produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
It measures the state of peace in countries whies assessing the countries in three domains, including the level of societal safety and security, the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict and the degree of militarisation.
The 15th edition of the GPI also measured the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on peace. This looked especially at the impact of the pandemic, and in particular, how its economic consequences will increase the risk of severe deteriorations in peace over the next few years.
Civil unrest rose 10 per cent globally, driven by the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic caused a global rise in civil unrest and political insecurity, according to the GPI report.
There were 14,871 violent demonstrations, protests and riots recorded globally in 2020.
The report said COVID-19 was a “multiplying force” in future political instability and civil unrest.
It added the level of this unrest going forward is likely to hinge on the speed and effectiveness of economic recovery. Countries with less debt and higher levels of positive peace were more likely to recover faster.
