Sri Lanka leads India and Pakistan in Global Peace Index
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- Published on Wednesday, 13 June 2012 21:52
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The Global Peace Index produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and released yesterday states the end of three-decades long civil war in Sri Lanka three years ago has propelled the country to experience the greatest improvement in overall peacefulness.
Sri Lanka's Global Peace Index (GPI) score has experienced the largest year-on-year improvement of the 158 nations surveyed and it has climbed 27 places to 103rd position overall and 17th in the Asia Pacific region ahead of India’s 142nd position and Pakistan’s 149th position.
The GPI ranks 158 nations using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators which gauge ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society and militarization.
Sri Lanka has joined Philippines, Zimbabwe, Bhutan and Guyana to be the top 5 countries that have registered "improvements in peacefulness".
The Institute of Economic and Peace says that Sri Lanka's score improved markedly for the second successive year in the aftermath of the defeat of the Tamil Tigers and the ending of two decades of civil war in May 2009.
According to the analysis of results, the GPI indicator of the number of deaths from organised (internal) conflict fell sharply in response to the fact that there were no casualties in 2010, compared with 15,565 in 2009. There were related declines in the homicide rate, the frequency of terrorist acts and the Political Terror Scale.
The IEP also notes in its report that in August 2011 the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, announced the lifting of the state of emergency imposed since 1963 to confront the threat from Tamil Separatists. (niz)
