Spotlight
Peacefulness Declines to Lowest Level in 15 Years – Report
Peacefulness Declines to Lowest Level in 15 Years Fuelled by Post-Covid economic uncertainty and Ukraine conflict
Today marks the launch of the 16th edition of the Global Peace Index from the international think-tank the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP).
Key results
- Deaths from external conflict recorded a sharp deterioration driven by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Despite recent commitments, militarisation has improved in 113 countries since 2008.
- Terrorism continued to improve, with 70 countries recording no attacks in 2021. This is the best result since 2008.
- The rise in costs has increased food insecurity and political instability globally, with Africa, South Asia and the Middle East under greatest threat.
- The political terror scale, political insecurity, neighbouring country relations, refugees and IDPs reached their worst score since the inception of the GPI.
- The global economic impact of violence was $16.5 trillion in 2021, equivalent to 10.9% of global GDP, or $2,117 per person.
Impact of the War in Ukraine on Peacefulness
- Two of the five countries with the largest deteriorations in peacefulness were Russia and the Ukraine.
- Social media is changing the way intelligence is gathered – it is now shared instantaneously, raw and with little analysis.
- In contrast to the global trend, positive sentiment in the Ukraine was rising in 2021. Support for the West was strong, with 58% wanting to join a Western economic union, and 54% supporting joining NATO.
The 16th edition of the annual Global Peace Index (GPI) report, the world’s leading measure of peacefulness, reveals that the average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.3% in 2021.
This is the eleventh deterioration in peacefulness in the last fourteen years, with 90 countries improving, and 71 deteriorating, highlighting that countries deteriorate much faster than they improve.
Iceland remains the most peaceful country, a position it has held since 2008. It is joined at the top of the Index by New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark and Austria. For the fifth consecutive year, Afghanistan is the least peaceful country, followed by Yemen, Syria, Russia and South Sudan. Seven of the ten countries at the top of the GPI are in Europe, and Turkey is the only country in this region to be ranked outside the top half of the Index.
Two of the five countries with the largest deteriorations in peacefulness were Russia and the Ukraine, they were joined by Guinea, Burkina Faso and Haiti. All these deteriorations were due to ongoing conflict.
Of the 23 indicators in the GPI, the largest deteriorations were recorded in neighbouring country relations, intensity of internal conflict, refugees and IDPs, political terror scale and political instability. Twenty-eight countries have high levels of instability, and ten countries recorded the worst possible political terror score.
The global inequality in peacefulness has continued to increase. Since 2008, the 25 least peaceful countries deteriorated on average by 16%, while the 25 most peaceful countries improved by 5.1%. Since 2008, 116 countries reduced their homicide rate.
The cost of violence to the global economy was $16.5 trillion, or 10.9% of global GDP, which is the equivalent to $2,117 per person. For the ten countries most affected by violence, the average economic impact was equivalent to 34% of GDP, compared to 3.6% in the countries least affected.
There were substantial improvements for several indicators, including terrorism impact, nuclear and heavy weapons, deaths from internal conflict, military expenditure, incarceration rates and perceptions of criminality. Terrorism impact is at its lowest level since the inception of the GPI.
Steve Killelea, Founder & Executive Chairman of IEP said: “Last year we warned about the economic fallout from COVID-19. We are now experiencing supply chain shortages, rising inflation, and food insecurity that have been compounded by the tragic events in Ukraine. The political and economic consequences of this will reverberate for years to come.
“When combined with the record poor scores for neighbouring relations, political insecurity and intensity of internal conflict, governments, organisations, and leaders must harness the power of peace.
“The economic value of lost peace reached record levels in 2021. There is a need to reverse this trend, and the GPI has shown that those countries that implement the attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies, witness an improved economic outcome.”
Militarisation & the Ukraine war
Military spending as a percentage of GDP decreased in 94 countries, while 112 countries have reduced armed service personnel since 2008. However, the Ukraine Russia conflict, and the potential increase in military spending by NATO countries to 2% of GDP, may lead to deteriorations in future years. Independently of this conflict, China plans to increase its spending on military by 7.1% in 2022.
Optimism about the future was on the rise with three times as many people feeling they could have the best possible future than in 2019. Surprisingly, only 20% felt the government could deal with a disaster. In contrast, the proportion of Russians feeling safer than five years’ prior fell between 2019 and 2021, while nearly three times as many Russians were worried about the economy*.
Although the full impact of the Ukraine Russia war is still being felt, it has had a significant effect on the Index. Many European nations near Russia have seen scores deteriorate for relations with neighbours, including Finland, Sweden, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Moldova.
The war has underlined the importance of technology in shaping conflict; 5G mobile technology, the social media revolution, and the greater affordability of drones have changed warfare. Recent conflicts have highlighted a move away from static, curated intelligence, to real time gathering via social media. Information is fluid, content driven, and shared in a raw, uncensored format.
Global economy and rise of violent demonstration
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed countries towards economic and political crises. Countries that had become progressively more peaceful experienced outbreaks of protests and violence aimed at governments’ handling of the pandemic.
The intensity of violent demonstrations has increased by 49% since 2008, with 126 of the 163 countries in the Index deteriorating. This a global trend, affecting all regions of the world except MENA. Full democracies recorded the sharpest deterioration in violent demonstrations, however, the score for full democracies is still better than any other type of government.
South Asia was the region with the highest frequency and intensity of violent demonstrations where India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan recorded their highest levels since the inception of the GPI. In Europe, there were widespread anti-lockdown protests, especially in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Croatia and the UK, with similar developments in North America.
Conflict and displacement
Ongoing Conflict had the largest deterioration at 9.3% of all three GPI domains since 2008. The number of countries experiencing violent internal conflict rose from 29 to 38, but the number of people killed in internal conflicts has fallen since 2017. The number of forcibly displaced people around the world increased from 31 million in 2008, to over 88 million in 2022.
There are 17 countries where at least 5% of the population are either refugees or internally displaced. South Sudan has over 35% of its population displaced, while Somalia and the Central African Republic have more than 20%.
Regional overview:
- Russia and Eurasia experienced the largest deterioration in peacefulness, driven by deteriorations in conflict deaths,refugees and IDPs, political instability and political terror.
- South Asia remains the second least peaceful region but recorded the largest increase in peacefulness, driven by improvements in ongoing conflict.
- Asia-Pacific recorded an increase in peacefulness, driven by improvements in all three GPI domains with the largest occurring in Safety and Security. In North America, The US had the lowest level of peacefulness since 2008, with civil unrest the primary driver.
- Violent crime increased in Central America and the Caribbean by 4.4% in 2022 to reach the highest level since 2008. Haiti had the largest deterioration in the region.
- MENA recorded the second biggest improvement globally. Yemen is the least peaceful country in the region for the second consecutive year. Libya recorded the largest improvement in peacefulness globally.
- Sub-Saharan Africa recorded a 1% deterioration. South Sudan remains the least peaceful country in the region, despite an overall improvement. Although levels of internal conflict in the country remain high, the number of deaths from internal conflict improved by 15%.
Spotlight
Concerned citizens appeal to Gov Sanwo-Olu, Dangote Foundation, Banks, MTN Foundation, NNPC, others to assist journalist for brain surgery
Some concerned citizens including media and corporate affairs practitioners have appealed to Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Banks, Dangote Foundation, MTN Foundation and other notable organizations and citizens to help provide financial assistance for Kolawole Kuforiji, a Nigerian journalist who requires Deep Brain Stimulation surgery that is expected to cost $35,000 (USD) about N57 million in Turkey.
Specifically, friends of Kola Kuforiji that initiated moves to seek financial support from concerned organisations and citizens have so far sent SOS For Journalist Kola Kuforiji requesting for financial assistance to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Dangote Foundation, MTN Foundation, All Nigerian Banks through the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB), NNPC Foundation, Chevron Nigeria Foundation, Guinness Nigeria Foundation, Nigerian Breweries Foundation, Shell Nigeria Foundation, Total E&P Nigeria Foundation and Babcock University.
Beside the calls for institutional supports to save the life of Kola Kuforiji, the group of friends have opened an bank account with Polaris Bank (Name of Account: SOS FOR JOURNALIST KOLA KUFORIJI/ Account Number: 1790322317) and have started making individual donations.
Donations to the fund from as little as N1,000 donor to N150,000 donors has rising to N842,940.00 from the last count.
The life of Kola, a 54-year-old husband and father of two, who had worked for about two decades with Rhythm FM (Sliverbird Group) reporting business was turned upside down when he was diagnosed with a drug-resistant, Parkinson’s disease with pronounced difficulty in walking and tremor has been very ill for more than two years and the severity and debilitating nature of his illness has depleted the finances of his family.
He was initially treated at Ikorodu General Hospital, Lagos, where a presumptive diagnosis of his medical condition was made.
He was over a year ago referred to LASUTH, but there has been little improvement in his health.
Medical treatment abroad now offers the best option for his recovery with a recommendation from Atasehir Medicana International Hospital – Atasehir / Istanbul, Turkey confirming that he will need a Deep Brain Stimulation surgery.
Over the years Kola has explored his media platform as a strong tool to drive financial inclusion and expanding frontier of knowledge of Nigerians on the activities and stride of the energy, banking and finance sectors at large to national development.
Despite his illness, Kola remains hopeful and determined to overcome.
Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, today announced that Teresa Anania has joined the company as Chief Customer Officer (CCO).
Anania will play a key role in accelerating Sophos’ customer and partner success initiatives to maximize value of Sophos’ portfolio of cybersecurity solutions and services, including Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services and endpoint, network, email, and cloud security.
Anania has more than 25 years of experience in leading customer satisfaction and sales growth across public and private sectors, excelling in both direct and indirect sales channels.
Joining Sophos from Zendesk, Anania was responsible for the management and development of its global client base of more than 110,000 customers from small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB) to enterprises. During her time at Zendesk, Anania led all post-sales functions, including Professional Services, Customer Support, Customer Service, Customer Success and Renewals, to deliver top line growth and measurable impact for customers. Anania has extensive experience specializing in scaling post-sales customer engagement for enterprise, commercial, and volume segments, delivering significant Return on Investment (ROI) and driving revenue.
As CCO, Anania will be responsible for developing a stronger customer-centric culture, working together with channel partners and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to deliver a seamless experience for Sophos’ growing customer base of more than 600,000 organizations worldwide. This vision also provides assurance that smaller customers, which are a prime target for attackers, have access to the same innovative security solutions and industry-leading threat intelligence as their larger counterparts, a critical overall mission for Sophos in 2024 and beyond.
“Sophos is in an exciting phase of its business growth, and I am eager to bring my career success building positive customer experiences to the company,” said Anania. “Sophos has a stellar reputation for continually innovating cybersecurity technology and managed security services that help organizations defend their businesses against ransomware, data breaches and other potentially business-ending cyberattacks. I will be working closely with channel partners, MSPs, and the global team, to advocate for Sophos’ customers and their security defenses and to drive value for partners from Sophos’ entire portfolio of solutions and services.”
“The threat landscape is always changing, and organizations need regular, interactive assessments of their overall IT environments to determine how to most efficiently and effectively adapt to defeat active attackers. To help facilitate this, security vendors need to take responsibility to ensure that customer investments in their products and services are providing real value to them, which requires engagement throughout contract lifecycles. This also requires world-class customer experience (CX) for renewals and upgrades to the most relevant and appropriate technologies and services, and an awareness of the full potential already available in existing licenses. The best tool is of little value without the right operation, so these components are critical to properly and consistently defending against modern attacks,” said Joe Levy, CEO of Sophos. “To provide this pathway, we’ve hired Teresa, who has an impressive track record building post-sales relationships and delivering experiences that increase customer satisfaction and drive topline growth. Her knowledge and expertise will allow us to further put customers at the center of our business, alongside our channel partners and MSPs. Most importantly, Teresa’s new role will help keep our customers as secure as possible, which is always our top priority. We are delighted to welcome Teresa to the Sophos team.”
Ijesha Digital Innovation Hub has announced the graduation ceremony of its first cohort of trainees.
The landmark event will take place on Monday, July 8th, 2024, starting promptly at 2:00 PM at the Royal Park Hotel on the beautiful campus of Olashore International School, Iloko-Ijesa.
In a press statement on Friday, Dr Adewale Alonge, Vice President, IGAD, said that after six months of intensive and globally benchmarked courses of study, “the hub is proud to graduate 48 trainees who have completed rigorous programs leading to certification in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, and UI/UX Design. The graduating class includes 10 trainees in UI/UX Design, 23 in Cybersecurity, and 15 in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning”.
The ceremony will feature a keynote address by Sir Aladekomo, Chairman of SmartCity Resorts Plc and Founder of Chams Plc, a pioneer in the Nigerian tech industry.
“The event will be chaired by Asiwaju Yinka Fasuyi, the esteemed Asiwaju of Ijeshaland, who will also deliver remarks celebrating the achievements of the graduates and the impact of the Innovation Hub.
“The media is invited to cover this significant event, which marks a new chapter for the 48 graduates as they embark on their professional journeys equipped with cutting-edge skills and knowledge. This graduation is a testament to the hub’s commitment to providing skills development training today so that participants can build tomorrow”, Dr. Alonge said.
The Ijesha Digital Innovation Hub, an initiative of the Ijesha Global Alliance for Development (IGAD), is dedicated to advancing the social, economic, and industrial development of Ijesaland in Nigeria. IGAD, a Florida, US-registered tax-exempt non-profit organization, mobilizes the resources and talents of Ijesas across the globe to foster the development of their homeland.
About Ijesha Digital Innovation Hub
The Ijesha Digital Innovation Hub is committed to equipping individuals with the skills necessary to thrive in the digital age. Our mission is encapsulated in our motto: “We provide skills development training today, so that you can build tomorrow.” #WeGuideTodaySoThatYouCanBuildTomorrow
About Ijesha Global Alliance for Development (IGAD)
IGAD’s mission is to mobilize the resources and talents of Ijesas across the globe to promote the social, economic, and industrial development of Ijesaland. IGAD is a registered tax-exempt, non-profit organization based in Florida, USA. IGAD’s Board of Directors, is chaired by Prince Bimbo Olashore, and it includes: Dr. Adewale Alonge, Pastor Laitan Obileye, Dr. Babatunde Ojo, Alhaji Lateef A. Bakare, Sir Ademola Aladekomo and Professor Olowookere.
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