Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development.
Homicide rate
5.0 per 100K (est)
UNODC estimate · 2025
Civilian casualties in armed conflicts
50,000 (est)
UN OHCHR estimate · 2025
Bribery prevalence
16.5% (est)
UNODC estimate · 2025
SDG16 targets on track
None of 12 (est)
UNDP estimate · 2025
Global Progress Score
Based on Sustainable Development Report 2025
Historical Trend (2015–2025)
Regional Comparison (2025)
Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions — Score per Country (2025)
Each country is scored 0–100 based on its progress toward this goal. Drag to rotate. Hover or tap a country to see its score.
Key Targets
SDR 2025 scores SDG 16 at 56.1/100 globally — among the worst-performing goals. The UCDP reports 59 active state-based conflicts in 2024 — the highest since World War II data collection began. Displaced persons are projected to exceed 130 million by end-2025. Democracy is in retreat: the V-Dem Institute's 2025 report found only 29% of the world's population lives in a democracy — down from 50% in 2012. Disinformation and AI-generated content are identified as acute threats to democratic institutions in 2025.
59
active state-based armed conflicts in 2024 — the highest number since WWII, and up from 14 in 1946, driving record forced displacement and humanitarian need.
Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP): Global Conflict Tracker 2024-25; SDR 2025
Key Insights
The Displacement Crisis
108.4 million people are forcibly displaced: 36 million refugees, 62 million internally displaced, and 8 million asylum seekers. If a country, this population would be the 14th largest in the world. The primary causes are conflict, violence, and climate-related displacement — all forecast to worsen.
Corruption's Catastrophic Cost
$1 trillion is paid in bribes each year; total corruption costs the world $2.6 trillion/year — 5% of global GDP. Corruption diverts resources from schools and hospitals, undermines trust in public institutions, and enables organized crime. Countries with high corruption score 30% lower on the Human Development Index.
The Justice Gap
1.5 billion people cannot resolve legal problems through official channels — they have no access to justice for land disputes, domestic violence, debt, or crimes committed against them. Legal exclusion perpetuates poverty and violence. Closing the justice gap requires community legal empowerment, not just more courts.
Children in the Crossfire
1 in 5 children globally lives in a conflict zone. Verified child casualties from armed conflict doubled from 2010 to 2022. The use of children as soldiers, sexual violence against children in conflict, and destruction of schools and hospitals are documented war crimes that receive inadequate accountability.
Core Challenges
The SDG 16 Data Gap
SDG 16 is the least monitored of the 17 goals: over 50% of countries lack sufficient data to measure progress on its indicators. You cannot manage what you cannot measure. Without baseline data on violence, corruption, access to justice, and governance, it is impossible to direct resources or evaluate impact.
Digital Authoritarianism
60 countries restricted internet access or social media platforms in 2022, using digital infrastructure as a tool of repression. AI-powered surveillance systems sold by private companies enable authoritarian monitoring at unprecedented scale. The digital rights frontier is as contested as any physical border.
Climate-Conflict Nexus
Climate shocks increase conflict risk by 10-20% in vulnerable regions. 25 of the 33 countries most vulnerable to climate change are simultaneously experiencing conflict. Climate-driven resource scarcity — water, food, land — is an accelerating driver of displacement and violence.
2030 Outlook
Sustainable peace requires long-term investment in institutions, transitional justice, rule of law, and inclusion. SDG 16 is foundational — without peace and governance, progress on every other goal is fragile and reversible. The most urgent need is closing the data gap, investing in local conflict prevention, and addressing the structural drivers — inequality, exclusion, and impunity — that make violence rational.