By Ibrahim Karim Bangura

Africa 24 peace & conflict correspondent

In the current global peace ranking, Sierra Leone has unfortunately moved 19 places down from 47th in 2023 to 66th position in the just-released 2024 Global Peace Index (GPI) that ranks and assesses 163 countries.

The country also moved 3 places down in sub-Saharan Africa, from 5th in 2023 to 8th in the 2024 ranking out of 44 countries.

The Global Peace Index 2024 further reveals that the world is at a crossroads. Without concerted effort, there is a risk of a surge in major conflicts. There are presently 56 conflicts, the most fought, since World War II. They have become more international with 92 countries involved in conflicts outside their borders, the most, since the GPI’s inception.

The rising number of minor conflicts increases the likelihood of more major conflicts in the future. For example, in 2019, Ethiopia, Ukraine, and Gaza were all identified as minor conflict zones in the world.

Since 97 countries deteriorated in peacefulness, more than any year since the starting of the Global Peace Index in 2008, the  conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine were the primary drivers of the global fall in peacefulness, as battle deaths reached 162,000 in 2023.

However, 92 countries are currently involved in conflicts beyond their borders, more than, at any time, since the inception of the GPI. First of its kind military scoring system suggests that US military capabilities are up to three times higher than China to curb conflict prone countries especially the United Nations treaty nations .

The global economic impact of violence increased to $19.1 trillion in 2023, representing 13.5% of global GDP. Exposure to conflict poses a significant supply chain risk for governments and businesses.

Meanwhile, militarization recorded its largest yearly deterioration since the inception of the GPI, with 108 countries becoming more militarized under democratic regimes specifically the Manor River Union (MRU) in West Africa, Guinea, Sierra Leone; in the concept of police state and state capture, thus leading to emerging conflicts and unrests because the growing root causes were undress, making it more problematic and scaring for many.

Nevertheless, 110 million people are either refugees or internally displaced due to violent conflict, with 16 countries now hosting more than half a million refugees due to poor leadership and power zest.

North America saw the largest regional deterioration, driven by increases in violent crime and fear of violence in recent era.

According the Truth and Reconciliation commission (TRC) established in Sierra Leone after the eleven years civil war in 2000, they found that due to a lack of visionary leadership, there was no one to steer the country away from its slide into chaos and civil war.

Because of this, the commission has called on leaders from all levels of Sierra Leonean society, to commit themselves to employing better forms of leadership in service delivery and progress.

The central cause of the war was endemic greed, corruption and nepotism, which deprived the nation of its dignity and forced its citizens into poverty. The commission calls upon all members in the private sector to work together and usher in a new culture of ethics and to fight the “scourge of corruption which saps the life-force of Sierra Leone.”

The commission also recommended the implementation of a more modern human rights culture in which all “Sierra Leoneans respect each other’s human rights, without exception.

Therefore, the creation of a new constitution was also recommended.

In the commission’s words, it says “A Sierra Leone that is united around clear constitutional rights, values and principles, has a promising future.

Due to a severe lack of governmental accountability, democracy and the rule of law had ceased to exist. Therefore, the commission recommended that Sierra Leone must strengthen its institutions of accountability and transparency. But, past and present governments have failed to implement those recommendations in the interest of pure democracy and so Sierra Leone continues to drop down in the global peace index.