Steve Killelea, Founder and Executive Chairman, Institute for Economics & Peace
Michelle Breslauer, Program Director for the Americas, Institute for Economics & Peace
Melanie Greenberg (Moderator), President & CEO, Alliance for Peacebuilding
Richard Ponzio (Moderator), Director, Just Security 2020 Program at Stimson and Co-Chair, UNA-NCA Peace & Security Committee
The new SDG16 Progress Report is focuses on methodology and challenges around measuring Sustainable Development Goal #16 (Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for stainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels) from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The report is unique in that it begins to measure countries’ actual performance and progress against the 12 targets of SDG16. While SDG16 heralds important international recognition of how violence and conflict can compromise development, the report highlights methodological issues, political challenges, and implementation concerns around data collection and statistical capacity that - if not addressed - could undermine the achievement of SDG16.
Having a clear understanding of available country-level data is integral to developing the policies and interventions necessary to improve not only the measurements for SDG16, but also the outcomes for peace, justice and strong institutions. As such, rigorous and independent composite measures like IEP’s Global Peace Index (GPI) and Positive Peace Index (PPI) remain important global barometers of progress toward peace.
