Ghana drops in Global Peace Index ranking

Ghana has dropped five places to 44 in the 2019 Global Peace Index ranking.

Iceland top the list whilst Afghanistan was noted as the least peaceful country, replacing Syria, which is now the second least peaceful.

Ghana was ranked the fourth most peaceful country in Africa, but it recorded a 0.024 drop in its score from 2018.

Mauritius, Botswana and Malawi ranked first, second and third respectively as the most peaceful countries in Africa.

This development is on the backdrop of significant shifts in Ghana’s perception as a safe with the United Kingdom (UK) for example, updating its travel advice for British nationals travelling to Ghana warning of likely terrorist attacks.

The Government of Canada also cautioned its citizens of potential violent crimes in Ghana, along with Australia cautioning its citizens residing in Ghana to stop patronising Ubers, taxis or any other public transport service over the increased spate of kidnappings.

The reported noted that 27 of Africa’s 44 countries captured in the report “deteriorated in peacefulness, leading to a weakening of all three domains of the GPI, while 12 of the region’s 23 indicators improved and eight deteriorated.”

The three domains are violent conflict, societal security and militarization.

On a positive noted, the report noted improvements in the political foundations for peace and said this was the “most promising development” in Africa.

Ghana was noted as one of three countries that made “the most substantial gains” in political stability.

“The Political Terror Scale improved overall based on reductions in state-based violence in 14 countries. Similarly, nine countries improved in political instability, compared to seven deteriorations, with The Gambia, Angola and Ghana making the most substantial gains.”

The 2019 report was the thirteenth edition of the Global Peace Index which ranks 163 independent states. It is produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).

The 2019 results show that the average level of global peacefulness improved very slightly, the first time in five years. The average country score improved by 0.09 percent, with 86 countries improving, and 76 recording deteriorations.

The 2019 GPI noted that the conflicts and crises that emerged in the past decade have become less intense but “new tensions within and between nations have emerged.”