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According to the 15th edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI) released on Thursday, the coronavirus pandemic has led to an increase in global civil unrest and political insecurity.
GPI is an annual report produced by the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP), ranking 163 independent countries and regions according to their level of peace, and is the world’s leading global peace measurement standard.
“This year’s results show that the average level of global peace has dropped by 0.07%,” the report said, emphasizing that this is “the ninth deterioration in peace in the past 13 years.
“However, the change in scores is the second smallest in the index’s history,” it added.
According to the 2021 GPI, although the global conflicts and crises that have occurred in the past decade have decreased, they have been “a new wave of tensions and uncertainties triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and increased tensions among many major countries.” “Sexual”. .
In 2020, the world witnessed nearly 15,000 violent protests and riots. It caused losses of approximately US$15 trillion, accounting for 11.6% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Among them, more than 5,000 cases are related to the pandemic, recorded between January 2020 and April 2021.
IEP CEO Steve Killelea said in an interview with Al Jazeera in Sydney, Australia: “The level of peace in 2020 will slightly decrease. This is mainly due to the increase in the number of violent demonstrations and the increase in political instability..
“Part of the reason is the lockdown of COVID-19 and the economic problems that followed.”
India, Eastern Europe, and the United States showed the worst deterioration at this level due to increased demonstrations related to coronavirus restrictions.
Killelea said the impact of the pandemic has been mixed.
“Initially, with the implementation of the blockade measures, the number of homicides and violent crimes declined. But after a while, the situation changed,” he said.
The report said: “It is too early to fully assess the long-term impact of the pandemic on peace.”
Estimated to exceed Two thirds Of the world’s population has experienced lockdown measures that lasted from weeks to months.
According to the World Bank estimateIn 2020, the global economy will shrink by 4.3%, with losses of trillions of dollars. Countries that are already facing economic difficulties are further plunged into debt distress.
A report from Oxfam International (PDF) It is estimated that it may take more than ten years for the poorest people in the world to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.
The most violent protest
However, more generally, the most violent protests in the past year occurred in Belarus, Myanmar, Russia, the United States, and Kyrgyzstan.
Belarus is a country with a population of 9.5 million. Russia sees it as a safe buffer zone against NATO. Since Alexander Lukashenko said he won the presidential election in August last year, Belarus has been subject to large-scale demonstrations. Shock. His opponents claimed that the vote was rigged and wanted him to withdraw.
Since the military overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, Myanmar has fallen into chaos. Strikes, boycotts, and protests across the country have paralyzed the economy, and tens of thousands have been displaced by fierce fighting between the army and ethnic minority insurgents and newly formed militias.
Despite this, Afghanistan has remained the most violent country in the world for the past four years. According to the report, Yemen, Syria, South Sudan and Iraq are closely followed.
On the other hand, Iceland has been the most peaceful country in the world since 2008, ranking among the top five in the world alongside New Zealand, Denmark, Portugal, and Slovenia.
Killelea said the number of deaths due to violent conflicts has improved in the past year.
“Militaryization has increased in the past two years. But if we look back at the past ten years, it has been improving, and it may continue to improve in the next few years.”
Three areas to improve
According to Killelea, the level of peace in only three of the nine regions covered by the institute has improved in the past year.
“Look at the nine areas covered. Three have improved and the other six have deteriorated. The worst deterioration is in North America,” Killelea said, explaining that the deterioration was mainly related to the violence during the last U.S. election and the occupation of Capitol Hill. It has something to do with the fate of black people.
According to the report, on the other hand, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has seen the greatest improvement, followed by Europe and South Asia, although the Middle East and North Africa is still the least peaceful region in the world.
At the same time, the country with the highest level of fear of violence recorded is Brazil. “Nearly 83% of Brazilians are very worried about becoming victims of violent crime,” the report said.
But Namibia has the worst experience of actual violence, “63% of the population there suffers violence or [had] Know someone who has had it in the previous two years,” it said.
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