BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Haiti, where efforts are continuing to ensure peace and security amid ongoing criminal gang violence, has for the first time has been labelled as the least peaceful country in Central America and the Caribbean.
Haiti is ranked 11th out of 12 countries in the region according to the 2023 Global Peace Index (GPI) released by the Australia-based Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP).
The IEP, which describes itself as an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress, named two other CARICOM countries in the top 12 least peace countries in the region.
They are Trinidad and Tobago at number three followed by Jamaica at number 4. Mexico has been ranked as the least peaceful country in the region, occupying the cellar position.
Haiti recorded the biggest deterioration in peacefulness in the region and the second largest deterioration in the 2023 GPI, with falls in peacefulness across all GPI domains.
IEP said that the deterioration in peacefulness was driven by increases in intensity of internal conflict, violent crime and political instability.
“The intensity of internal conflict deteriorated significantly in Haiti throughout 2022. The country has descended into extreme instability, with a variety of organised crime groups, which control much of the country, unleashing violence against both civilians and government security forces.
“The government has been unable to put together a proper security strategy. There have been continuous election delays, as well as collusion between organised crime groups and some government officials,” said the GPI report.
The internal security situation in Haiti has deteriorated significantly over the past year, with deteriorating indicators of violent crime, political instability and scale of political terror. Since the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, Haiti has entered a crisis of insecurity with criminal gangs controlling more than half the country, forcing thousands of people from their homes.
Haiti recorded the second greatest deterioration of peace, losing 17 places and ranks 129th in the world out of 163 countries analyzed. This is the lowest ranking that Haiti has obtained on the index since its creation in 2008.
Globally, Trinidad and Tobago was ranked 70 with 1.946 points, down one position from the previous year, while Jamaica was number 77 with a score of 1.980, down three positions from the previous report..
The 2023 GPI finds that the world became less peaceful for the 13th time in the last 15 years, with the average level of country peacefulness deteriorating by 0.42 per cent over the past year.
“The deterioration in peacefulness was mainly due to a deterioration in the Ongoing Conflict domain. Deaths from internal conflict, neighbouring countries relations, and external conflicts fought all recorded significant deteriorations, with the total number of conflict-related deaths increasing by 96 per cent.
“Although the conflict in Ukraine was the primary driver of this increase, increases in conflict were also seen in many other countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and the Asia Pacific.
Peacefulness in Central America and the Caribbean deteriorated slightly in the 2023 GPI, with an average deterioration in score of 0.71 per cent.
“However, of the 12 countries in the region, only Panama, Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti experienced deteriorations, compared to seven countries that deteriorated in the year prior,” the GPI noted.
