•  united nations
• Friday, June 15, 2012
• Inter Press Service

With 98 days remaining in the countdown to the International Day of Peace, the launch of the Global Peace Index (GPI) (LINK: http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi-data/) spotlights the links between peace and prosperity.

The 2012 GPI launched Thursday, ranks 158 countries in terms of their peacefulness, painting a positive global picture of a world that has become 'slightly more peaceful in the past year.'

But more substantial gains in peace could mean great gains in prosperity, with current levels of violence costing the world an estimated 9 trillion dollars according to the Institute for Economics and Peace.

'If we reduced violence by just 25% we would save the world 2.25 trillion dollars, that is 500 billion in the US' Michael Shank, Vice President of the Institute for Economics and Peace said at the launch of the GPI.

Peace was also found to be a key component of resilience to external economic and environmental shocks. Japan, ranked in the top ten, was highlighted for its resilience to the impact and aftermath of Tsunamis.

Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Myanmar and the Philippines made the greatest gains in peace, with Sri Lanka climbing an impressive 27 places, contributing to the Asia-Pacific region’s overall growth in peacefulness.

Reflective of the uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Syria, Egypt and Tunisia suffered the greatest declines, and the MENA region replaced Sub-Saharan Africa as the poorest scoring region in the peace ranks.

Whilst global peace was found to be growing, and war between countries in decline, disconcerting indicators of increasing internal violence emerged from the report, including violent crime, demonstrations, homicide and criminality.

'Countries with youth bulges tend to have less peaceful societies,' said Daniel Hyslop, Research Manager of the Institute for Economics and Peace, while emphasizing that the GPI identifies correlations between widespread factors and peaceful societies rather than causes of violence.

Whilst causes of violence are complex, promoting peace is within every individual’s capacity and with 98 days to go before International Peace Day, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon emphasized the need for all to contribute to peace for a sustainable future.

'If we are to build such a future, we must all play our individual part — I urge everyone, between now and 21 September, to think about how they can contribute,' Mr. Ban said in a message (LINK: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp? NewsID=42214&Cr=Peace%20Day&Cr1=) to mark the countdown.

© Inter Press Service (2012) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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