Sierra Leone overtakes Ghana as ‘most peaceful’ country in West Africa – GPI

Sierra Leone has been ranked the most peaceful country in the latest edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI).

Sierra Leone displaces Ghana at the top spot in the 2023 index, which was released recently.

Sierra Leone scored 1.792, compared to 1.799 for Ghana. Lying at third spot is Senegal with 1.827, the data shows.

Sierra Leone is placed third at the continental level, behind Mauritius and Botswana, and 47^th globally.

Gambia ranks 4^th, while Liberia ranks 5^th in West Africa. The two countries rank 8^th and 10^th, respectively on the continental level.

At the global level, Iceland maintains its top spot as the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. It is followed by Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and Austria.

At the bottom of the global ranking is Afghanistan, as the least peaceful nation in the world. It has held that position for eight consecutive years. It is followed by Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

South Sudan is at the bottom of the African continental ranking.

This is the 17^th edition of the GPI report, which ranks 163 independent states and territories according to their level of peacefulness.

The Index is produced by the Australia headquartered global Think Tank, Institute for Economics and Peace. It is considered as the world’s leading measurement of peacefulness, presenting the most comprehensive data-driven analysis to date on trends in peace, its economic value and how to develop peaceful societies.

The IEP says it uses 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources and measures the state of peace across three domains – societal safety and security; extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and degree of militarization.
Some highlights of the GPI 2023 show that the average level of global peace deteriorated by 0.42 percent.

Over the last 15 years, the world has become less peaceful, with the average country score deteriorating by five per cent, the analysis shows. And of the 163 countries in the GPI, 95 recorded deteriorations, while 66 recorded improvements, and two recorded no change in score.

Sixteen of the 23 GPI indicators deteriorated between 2008 and 2023, while eight improved.

The report notes that Sub-Saharan Africa recorded a slight fall in peacefulness in the 2023 GPI, with the average country score deteriorating by 0.57 per cent. Of the 44 countries in the region, 21 improved in score, while 22 deteriorated, and one remained unchanged.