Just over a quarter of the world’s countries and territories are currently on track to meet the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 16.1. As demonstrated in our 2021 update to the Global Violent Deaths database, there has been a six per cent rise in global deadly violence compared to 2020— a significant setback. Of the approximately 580,000 violent deaths, about 45 per cent were inflicted by firearms. If current trends continue or increase, the world will miss the target to halve all forms of violence and related death rates by 2030.

Situation Update: Tunisia

Migrants have been a regular presence in Tunisia since around 2011, when they arrived in the country after fleeing instability in Libya. It is only in recent years, however, that they have become a political issue. With Tunisia’s economy in shambles and the rise of political repression, migrants within and transiting through the country have been demonized in an attempt to shift the focus and cast President Saïed as a populist hero.

Tong Akeen Ngor, the governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, South Sudan, has consolidated his grip on power by buying support, detaining members of the opposition, and ingratiating himself with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir. Tong Akeen, however, lacks popularity. The state has traditionally been an SPLM stronghold, and he is seen as an NCP interloper from the north.

This infographic draws from the Small Arms Survey's Global Violent Deaths database to provide an overview of gender-disaggregated data related to intentional homicides and the use of firearms.

Find out more about our GVD database here.

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National actors working in small arms control and on women, peace, and security (WPS) share commitments to reduce suffering, maintain peace and security, and contribute to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet, while these cross references are increasingly commonplace in the international policy framework, this does not often translate into harmonized references in national action plans (NAPs) on WPS and small arms control.

The Global Violent Deaths (GVD) database has been updated to include revised data on conflict deaths, intentional homicides, and killings during legal interventions between 2017 and 2021. The addition of the 2021 data to the GVD database—where the Small Arms Survey tracks and compiles statistics on violent deaths across 222 countries and territories—presents an alarming reversal in trends. The number of people who lost their life violently has dramatically increased in 2021, with firearms accounting for 45% of these deaths.

'Although 2020 will be best remembered for the turmoil of COVID-19, it was also the year with the fewest violent deaths in a decade.

New 2021 figures from the Small Arms Survey's Global Violent Deaths (GVD) database, however, show a six percent rise in global deadly violence compared to 2020.

Such a surge hasn't happened since the infamous 2016 peak, when the devastating conflicts in Syria and Iraq were responsible for almost a fifth of the record number of violent fatalities...'