BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Haiti, where efforts are continuing to ensure peace and security amid ongoing criminal gang violence, has for the first time been labeled as the least peaceful country in Central America and the Caribbean.
The French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country 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, nonpartisan, 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 among the region’s top 12 least peaceful countries.
Trinidad and Tobago is ranked third, followed by Jamaica at fourth. Mexico is ranked as the least peaceful country in the region, occupying the cellar position.
Haiti recorded the most significant 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 increases in the intensity of internal conflict, violent crime, and political instability drove the deterioration in peacefulness.
“The intensity of internal conflict deteriorated significantly in Haiti throughout 2022. The country has descended into extreme instability, with a variety of organized crime groups that 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 organized 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 ranking 129th 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 from the last report.
The 2023 GPI finds that the world has become less peaceful for the 13th time in the last 15 years, with the average level of country peacefulness deteriorating by 0.42 percent over the past year.
“The deterioration in peacefulness was mainly due to a decline in the Ongoing Conflict domain. Deaths from internal conflict, neighboring countries’ countries’ relations, and external conflicts fought all recorded significant deteriorations, with the total number of conflict-related deaths increasing by 96 percent.
“Although the conflict in Ukraine was the primary driver of this increase, conflict increases 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 score deterioration of 0.71 percent.
“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.
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