Towards a Peaceful World

Organised armed conflict is a problem that occurs predominantly in low and middle-income countries. Thus, there is a strong link between security and development, and the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development specifically aims to create peaceful and inclusive societies (SDG 16). This chapter uses global data to describe the patterns of violence and discusses the possible policy instruments for violence reduction. The development community has focused on political violent conflict, excluding almost all other forms of collective violence (e.g. organised crime) and interpersonal violence (e.g. homicide). However, all of these other forms of violence have serious welfare and development consequences, and governments/supranational authorities need to recognise that violence reduction strategies should target all forms of violence. The empirical evidence suggests that the reduction in the availability of arms and regulations on illicit drugs and alcohol as well changes in norms can reduce violence.