Namibia rated more peaceful this year

NAMIBIA has gone up several places, both in Africa and the world, in an annual survey which ranks nations in terms of how peaceful they are.

The Global Peace Index, the brainchild of Steve Killelea, an Australian entrepreneur and philanthropist, ranks 144 countries – from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe – according to their peacefulness.Last year Namibia was ranked 77th in the world and 12th in Africa.The country has since improved to 65th in the world and ninth in Africa.The Global Peace Index (GPI) -now in its third year – is compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, using a broad range of 23 indicators measuring both internal and external peacefulness of nations.This year Namibia received a favourable score for its low level of deaths from organised internal conflict.Botswana is ranked top in Africa followed by Malawi, Gabon, Ghana, Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea while Angola came in at 16, South Africa at 21 and Zimbabwe 27th.The index has also given poor marks to Afghanistan (143), Somalia (142), Israel (141) and Russia (136), placing them firmly in the bottom half of a list of 144 states.New Zealand tops the survey as the most peaceful country in the world followed by Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Austria.For the third year running, Iraq is in last place due to the continuing insurgency since the 2003 US-led invasion.Namibia scored low in areas such as the ‘perceptions of criminality’, ‘ease of access to weapons of minor destruction’ and the ‘level of violent crime’.The index, drawn up by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an independent think-tank, together with the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit, also expressed concern about the low number of internal security officers and police for the population, as well as the number of homicides in Namibia.Using a broad range of 24 indicators measuring the internal and external peacefulness of nations, the index also scores countries in relation to their neighbours, arms sales and foreign troop deployments.The survey, published yesterday, said the world became ‘slightly less peaceful’ in the past year after the intensification of violent conflict in some countries and as the dramatic global economic downturn took its toll.As the global economy was heading into a synchronised recession at the beginning of 2008, many of the GPI measures, including likelihood of violent demonstration and political instability, also deteriorated.Iceland is a prime example of the link between economic strength and peace. Last year it topped the index but this year it has fallen into fourth place following the collapse of its financial system.According to the index, 14 of the top 20 countries are western or central European democracies. All five Scandinavian countries are in the top ten of this year’s GPI.The US has risen six places from last year to 83rd place with a fall in the indicator registering the potential for terrorist acts. A significant negative for US peace scores is the fact that the country still jails a higher proportion of its population than any other country in the index.