Global Nonkilling Index Launched
TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 24 Sep 2018
Bill Bhaneja | Center for Global Nonkilling – TRANSCEND Media Service
17 Sep 2018 – As one of the world’s first, the launch of a Global Nonkilling Index (GNI) is a bold new initiative towards a NONKILLING SOCIETY. In a seminal paper, Katyayani Singh and Anoop Swarup lay down the statistical foundation for recording the movement towards a nonkilling global society in this peace index. It supports a more fundamental “idea of peace based on human life”, going beyond other two peace Indexes: the Global Peace Index and the Human Happiness Index. The pioneering research for GNI was done at the Jagaran Lakecity University in Bhopal, India in conjunction with the Center for Global Nonkilling, Hawai’i, USA ( www.cgnk.org ).
Results of the research were published in the recent issue of the International Journal on World Peace, Volume XXXV No. 3, September 2018. Introducing Global Nonkilling Index (GNI) in the research paper entitled, ‘A Global Nonkilling Index as a Critical Measure of Human Development and Progress’ the Editor in Chief, Gordon L. Anderson in the editorial writes:
‘This index reflects an advanced method of indexing peace by looking at “killing” beyond traditional murder rates, to includes suicide, capital punishment, and battlefield death rates.
‘The capital punishment rate is a symbol of either an excessively harsh and inhumane regime or a social system that produces excessive criminal behavior. The suicide, or self-killing rate, correlates with the frustration and despair of a society. Battlefield deaths for defense of a state are justifiable, but are also the consequence of regimes that send young men to die for less noble purposes. Combining statistics on all these forms of killing into a global nonkilling index provides a more accurate overall picture of which states are the most peaceful and happy. The authors provide for us a 2015 Nonkilling Index because the World Health Organization only collects data for suicide rates every five years.
‘Because a nonkilling index provides a better correlation to peace in a broader context than simple murder rates, the adoption of a nonkilling index, such as proposed in this article, will hopefully encourage the collection of more data on killing in any form every year by the World Health Organization and others’.
The authors note:
‘The paper fosters a “nonkilling” world view in contrast to “nonviolence” as a path to universal peace. Nonkilling, not as a metaphor but a finite reality in infinite reverence to life, is measurable and achievable and can be targeted to measure human development and progress. The present paper is an attempt to develop an index based on critical elements, scientific rationale, and dispassionate analysis of a country’s specific characteristics such as homicide, suicide, battle related deaths, internal armed conflict deaths and also capital punishment. The data has been obtained from reliable sources that are transparent and verifiable. It is recommended by the authors that a Global Nonkilling Index (GNI) to promote positive and structured “Affirmative Nonkilling” can be an important measure for human progress and development.’
For full story, click:
https://www.facebookcom/717234270/posts/10157100342664271/
http://nonkilling.org/center/2018/09/10/global-nonkilling-index-concept-launched/
Publishing details of International Journal on World Peace, Volume XXXV No. 3, September 2018 are: International Journal on World Peace, Paragon House, 3600 Labore Rd., Suite 1 St. Paul, MN 55110 (651) 644-3087.
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Bill (Balwant) Bhaneja is a former Canadian diplomat and a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment. He produces the Nonkilling Arts Research Committee (NKARC) Newsletter for the Center for Global Nonkilling. A writer and peace activist, his recent books include: Quest for Gandhi: A Nonkilling Journey (2010) and Troubled Pilgrimage: Passage to Pakistan (2013). He is a founding member of the Center for Global Nonkilling, Honolulu-Hawai’i (www.nonkilling.org) and lives in Ottawa, Canada.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 24 Sep 2018.
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