Qatar Tops MENA in Global Peace Index 2013

Doha, June 15 (QNA) - The State of Qatar for the fifth consecutive year, has topped the Middle East and North Africa in the Global Peace Index for the year 2013. the Index was released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in London last week. According to the report Qatar ranked first in the Arab world and the Middle East and North Africa, and ranked (19) at the global level among 162 countries covered by the Global Peace Index report for 2013. The Global Peace Index report this year has highlighted the increase of military spending as well as the lack of political stability and security in several countries in addition to the surge in the number of deaths, which led to making the world less stable and peaceful according to the index data. Qatar recorded positive indicators in several domains covered by the report including (corruption) where it recorded (6.8/10) degrees compared to (7.2/10) in 2012 , and in media freedom where it recorded (32.90/100) degrees compared to (46 / 100) in 2012 . according to the report Qatar has also managed to maintain certain indicators, including (the number of crimes in the society, the number of deaths per 100 thousand people, the number of inmates in penal institutions, ease of access to small and lights arms and weapons. The Global Peace Index (GPI) is an attempt to measure the relative position of nations' and regions' peacefulness. It is the product of Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and developed in consultation with an international panel of peace experts from peace institutes and think tanks with data collected and collated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The list was launched first in May 2007, then continued yearly. It is claimed to be the first study to rank countries around the world according to their peacefulness.(QNA)