BY CATHERINE MUCHIRI ZIMBABWE has been ranked 127 out of 163 countries in terms of being a peaceful nation by the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2022.
The peace index was carried out through a survey by the Institute for Economics and Peace.
The GPI survey covers 163 countries, comprising 99,7% of the world’s population.
It also measures peace using factors such as the level of societal safety and security, the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflicts, and the degree of militarisation in countries.
In terms of sub-Saharan countries, Zimbabwe ranked 31 out of 44 countries, while its neighbours had good scores.
Zambia was ranked number six, Malawi number eight, South Africa 26, Mozambique 29, while other countries that had poor rankings in sub-Saharan Africa were the Democratic Republic of Congo at number 43 and South Sudan at the bottom at number 44.
European countries were adjudged as the most peaceful regions. The top four most peaceful countries were said to be Iceland, Ireland, Denmark and Austria in that order.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition director Blessing Vava said: “The low ranking of Zimbabwe on the Global Peace Index is evidence of the government’s lack of will to implement political, economic and constitutional reforms that are necessary for Zimbabweans to enjoy economic prosperity and human rights, which are the lifeblood of a peaceful nation.
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“We continue to urge the Government of Zimbabwe to prioritise its people and to ensure that resources are allocated with equity and that Zimbabweans are free to enjoy their constitutionally-guaranteed rights as this is the only key to achieving sustainable peace.”
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum programmes co-ordinator Wilbert Mandinde said: “The country has experienced various forms of violence which have not been resolved. From the Second Chimurenga war, fighters never got counselling and were used by political parties in mostly violent episodes against the enemies of the ruling party.
“Subsequently, we have seen the same with Gukurahundi atrocities, and also challenges associated with violence during electoral periods. As long as such issues have not been resolved, and as long as the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) is being disempowered in the current manner in which it fails to come up with any reconcialiative peace initiatives, then we will continue to face this problem where there will be fights and disturbances will continue, thus robbing the nation of peace. We should work to improve on all these issues, including making the NPRC more visible.”
NPRC spokesperson Obert Gutu requested to go through the report first before giving his response on the country’s low peace rankings.
