Ghana has dropped to the 55th position in the 2024 Global Peace Index (GPI), a decline from its 51st ranking in 2023 and a more significant fall from 40th place in 2022.
Within the Sub-Saharan region, Ghana now ranks 4th, after losing its position as the second most peaceful country, falling behind Mauritius, Madagascar, and Botswana.
The 18th edition of the Global Peace Index, produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), assessed 163 countries based on their levels of peacefulness, covering 99.7% of the global population.
As Ghana approaches the December 7 elections, maintaining a peaceful electoral process is crucial for the country’s democratic stability, preventing localised conflicts, and addressing emerging security threats.
The GPI uses 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure peace across three key domains: Societal Safety and Security, Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict, and Militarization.
On the African continent, the Global Peace Index noted that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remains the least peaceful, with four of the ten least peaceful countries in the world, including the two least peaceful—Sudan and Yemen.
The report also revealed that global peace has declined over the past 17 years, with substantial increases in political instability, the number of conflicts, conflict-related deaths, and violent demonstrations.
However, this rise in global violence has been accompanied by a stronger commitment to UN peacekeeping operations, which recorded the most significant improvement among all GPI indicators.
