World’s Peaceful Countries: Kenya Ranked Ahead of US, Saudi Arabia
DIASPORA MESSENGER NEWS MEDIA
Kenya is a more peaceful country than both Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, a new ranking by Global Finance Magazine has revealed.
According to the live ranking titled, ‘World’s Most Peaceful Country 2023 Global Peace Index’, Kenya appeared at position 117, two slots ahead of Saudi Arabia.
The US, on the other hand, appeared at position 131, more than 14 slots below Kenya.
The ranking, which was compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), covered over 163 independent states which have 99.7 per cent of the world’s
“The ranking, which is based on 23 indicators grouped into three criteria (societal safety and security; extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and degree of militarization), shows 84 countries recording improvement and 79 showing deterioration,” read the description in part.
The outlet further indicated that the financial impact of violence is $17.5 trillion in purchasing-power-parity (PPP) terms, or 12.9% of total global GDP.
“Overall the level of global peacefulness decreased this year by 0.42% according to IEP researchers. That might not seem like much, yet it is worth noting that it is the 13th time in the past 15 years that the average has declined, for an overall reduction of 5% since the annual Global Peace Index was first published in 2008,” added Global Finance.
However, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons has rocketed to 85 million, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
The report revealed that there are 15 nations where 5% of their population are considered to be either refugees or internally dispaced persons.
Saudi Arabia’s decline was a blow to their recent consistent trend of improvement. This was in part, due to the country’s dedication to improving safety and security. Experts reckon that the decrease may be a result of the suppression of freedom of expression and assembly by Saudi authorities.
Terrorism also decreased gradually since 2015, dropping by over 12 per cent.
The US, on the other hand, has been affected by gun violence for years with over 40,167 lives already claimed in 2023 alone. The issue of gun ownership continues to be a thorny one.
Kenya, on the other hand, has dealt with terror activities primarily from the al Shabaab militia. Over the last five years, the cases have decreased gradually. Internally, recorded cases of violence and muggings have steadily reduced.
By DERRICK OKUBASU
Source-https://www.kenyans.co.ke/
World’s Peaceful Countries: Kenya Ranked Ahead of US, Saudi Arabia
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