When a piece of good news is yearned for in the nation, at the time of difficult economic and political situation, the news that Bangladesh ranks first among the states in the region in the ranking of peaceful nations in 2008, bears a special significance for all of us.

The Global Peace Index (GPI), which is drawn up by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an independent think-tank, along with the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit, placed Bangladesh in the 86th position among 140 countries, which is ahead of India (107), Sri Lanka (125), Myanmar (126), Pakistan (127) and Afghanistan (137).

Bangladesh was also 86th among 121 countries in the GPI-2007 with a score of 2.219, and improved this year with a score of 2.118. The GPI, for the first time in 2007, rated 121 countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe on some 24 factors including levels of violence, conflict with neighbours, foreign troop deployment, potential for terrorism within its borders, and military expenditure.

The GPI-2007 placed Norway (1.357) at the top of the list as the most peaceful country in the world and Iraq (3.437), which has been gripped by growing violence since the US-led invasion in 2003, was placed at the bottom of the list.

The GPI-2008 has placed Iceland (1.176) at the top of the list and again Iraq (3.514) at the bottom of the list as the least peaceful country. The most striking feature of the GPI-2008 is that the world's leading powers, including USA and Russia, have performed poorly in the GPI rating. USA has been placed in 97th position while Russia is in 131st place.

In Europe, countries such as UK (49), Greece (54), Cyprus (52) and France (36) have failed to perform better due to their rising militarisation. On the other hand, 16 of the 20 most peaceful countries are European democracies most of them members of the European Union.

The top 10 peace leaders in GPI-2008 (in descending order) are Iceland, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, Japan, Ireland, Portugal, Finland, Luxembourg and Austria. On the other hand, the bottom 10 countries (in ascending order) are Iraq, Somalia, North Korea, Central African Republic, Chad, Lebanon, Israel, Afghanistan, Sudan and Russia.

The Adviser for Foreign Affairs, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, has acclaimed this global recognition and termed Bangladesh as an oasis of calm in an otherwise turbulent region. He has also expressed his hope that the country will soon emerge as yet another Asian Tiger.

The Happy Planet Index, prepared by the UK-based New Economics Foundation in 2006, rated Bangladesh as the happiest nation in the world. The study, based on the link between personal spending power and perceived quality of life, concluded that money could buy everything but happiness.

The sensational finding of the survey was that people in Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, derive far more happiness from their small income than people in most rich countries, including UK, Austria, Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan and Canada.

Bangladesh was ranked 137th among the world's medium development countries in the UNDP human development index (HDI) 2006, covering 177 countries. The HDI developed by the UNDP, pushed Bangladesh two steps up from its ranking in the previous year. The HRD argues that development is ultimately a process of enlarging people's choices, not just raising national incomes.

Despite being a least developed country (LDC) in the economic parameter, Bangladesh has steadily improved life expectancy, education and standard of living, and had moved into the category of medium developed countries in the HDI from 2003. Bangladesh was one of the lowest in the world in terms of access to proper sanitation in its rural areas some 10 years ago, and now has targeted to achieve nationwide sanitation coverage by 2010.

Bangladesh is a country globally known for poverty, corruption, violence and natural calamities. But these are not the only thing about the country. There are some positives that discerning eyes cannot fail to see. Bangladesh has made positive strides in education, life expectancy, and rural development. Literacy rates have increased remarkably, though the quality of education is yet to be improved.

Food riots have already erupted in many countries, including Egypt, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Senegal, Mozambique Yemen, Mexico, Mauritania, Indonesia, Bolivia, Philippines, India, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Uzbekistan, due to the global food crisis. But Bangladesh, despite having so much food crisis, is an exception.

Bangladesh is not only striving for peace within its borders but has also demonstrated its commitment to peace beyond its borders, where internal conflicts and civil wars have made the situation volatile. The country now has the second largest contingent of peacekeepers from the UN member states deployed in the trouble spots of 15 countries across the world.

Bangladesh's position, ahead of all other countries in the region, as a nation of peace is no surprise, given that it has no stakes and involvement in activities like arms sales, conflict with neighbours, and foreign troop deployment, that have rendered many powerful countries less peaceful. Yet, we need to do a lot more with a view to contributing to global peace more meaningfully.

The nation that has been caught in the mousetrap of divisive politics indubitably needs a qualitative change in its leadership. The failed leadership, and their vying for power, have frustrated the nation too much. There are reasons to believe that the country, which has performed better in the GPI rating compared to its all other neighbours, will also transit to durable democracy through a meaningful election.

Let us hope that the country will soon overcome all the odds and adversities and will shine in greater glory under new, dynamic leadership as an oasis of peace. Author: A.N.M. Nurul Haque
Source: The Daily Star
Released: 02 Jun 2008