Rankings for all the countries and comparisons with previous years can be found at the official website of the Global Peace Index:
http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi/results/rankings.php
How is the Peace Index calculated?
The absence of wars or conflicts is only one aspect of ‘peacefulness’. World peace in 2009 depends on many factors. The Global Peace Index is calculated on the basis of 23 indicators measuring conflicts, societal security and militarization (see the chart below). In previous years there were 24 indicators. Separate measures of UN and non-UN deployments have now been replaced with Item 20.
Additional considerations
The Global Peace Index takes into account a range of ‘drivers’ – potential determinants of peace – that may influence the creation of peaceful societies in the future, or maintain peace in countries without ongoing conflicts. The ‘drivers’ include levels of democracy, education and material well-being.
Women in parliament
One of the ‘drivers’ indicating a country’s level of democracy is the percentage of women in parliament. A recent report by the United States National Intelligence Council, Global Trends 2025, discusses the potential of women in parliament as agents of social and political change.
Nine Islamic countries now have a higher percentage women in parliament than the United States of America (Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union:
http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/arc/classif300409.htm). Afghanistan and Iraq benefited from new Constitutions requiring women to occupy at least 25% of parliamentary seats. Much is changing. In Afghanistan women teachers are now supported by “protection officers” in schools.
Every one of the 186 signatories of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) have now ratified the treaty, apart from the United States of America.
