Botswana ranked ‘most peaceful Country in Africa’
Botswana has been ranked the highest among all African countries on the Global Peace Index (GPI).
The GPI is a ground-breaking milestone in the study of peace. It is the first time that an Index has been created that ranks the nations of the world by their peacefulness and identifies some of the drivers of that peace. The index is composed of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from respected sources, which combine internal and external factors ranging from a nation’s level of military expenditure to its relations with neighboring countries and the level of respect for human rights. These indicators were selected by an international panel of experts including academics and leaders of peace institutions.
Global Peace Index Map - 2009
On a regional basis, 31 African nations were ranked. Botswana was first for Africa and 34th world wide. Malawi ranked 2nd and 47th on a global scale, followed by Gabon in 3rd (51st globally). Rankings of other Southern African Nations show Mozambique in 5th , Zambia in 6th, Namibia is 9th South Africa at 21st and Zimbabwe at 27th. Zimbabwe was in the bottom 10 of all countries ranked.
The GPI website says the results for 2009 suggest that the world has become slightly less peaceful in the past year, which appears to reflect the intensification of violent conflict in some countries and the effects of both the rapidly rising food and fuel prices early in 2008 and the dramatic global economic downturn in the final quarter of the year.
The GPI has been tested against a range of potential “drivers” or potential determinants of peace – including levels of democracy and transparency, education and material wellbeing. The GPI brings a snapshot of relative peacefulness among nations while continuing to contribute to an understanding of what factors help create or sustain more peaceful societies.