Conflicts around the globe cause more deaths — over 238,000 people in 2022 only — than they have ever done this century, with Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) having all ranked among the world’s ten least peaceful countries since the index was launched in 2007. The number of conflict deaths almost doubled in 2022 compared to the previous year, whereby wars caused a 13% loss of global GDP, according to the Global Peace Index, released recently by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). The Global Peace Index is put together evaluating almost every country in the world based on 23 indicators. It has found that the average level of “global peacefulness” had dropped for the ninth year in a row, with conflict deaths exceeding the previous global peak reached in 2014 during the Syrian Civil War. However, the overall trend in the Middle East and North Africa seems to be positive, as 13 countries have actually improved their peacefulness, and only 7 have deteriorated, according to the IEP survey.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 05, 2023 04:34 UTC