New SANA Briefing Paper on the global struggle to halve violent deaths by 2030

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. Focusing on the G5 Sahel, the paper’s analysis underscores, however, that this region experiences notably higher levels of lethal violence compared to Northern Africa, and increasing conflict-related fatalities since 2016.

Broken Ambitions: The Global Struggle to Halve Violent Deaths by 2030—a new Briefing Paper from the Small Arms Survey’s Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) project—offers a comprehensive insight into global violent deaths, spanning from 2004 to 2021, and identifies potential scenarios for the period leading up to 2030. The paper also discusses the persistent lack of reliable data on lethal violence in Northern Africa and the G5 Sahel, with few countries providing comprehensive information.

Read: Broken Ambitions: The Global Struggle to Halve Violent Deaths by 2030

For more, check out:

• Turning Tides: A New Surge in Global Violent Deaths (December 2023)—our blog post analysing the new 2021 data in the GVD database
• 2023 infographic (December 2023)—a snapshot of the 2021 data
• Persistent Perils: Illicit MANPADS in the MENA Region (April 2024)—a Report that provides an in-depth analysis of the proliferation of MANPADS in North Africa and the Middle East from 2015–23
• Continuity and Change: Extremist-used Arms in Mali (January 2024) —a Briefing Paper that investigates the arms, ammunition, explosives, and other materiel used in extremist attacks in Mali from 2015 to 2022, and the sources and pathways through which they were obtained
• The SANA project page
• Other SANA outputs in our Resource Library

Other news from the Survey:

• New Situation Update on the dynamics of firearms possession in Ukraine
• New Survey Report on the Arms Trade Treaty in the Indo-Pacific region
• New Small Arms Survey Annual Report 2023
• New SANA blog post on the connection between emotions and violent extremism
• New podcast - Road to RevCon4: The UN PoA and Demand
• New HSBA Situation Update on Tong Akeen Ngor’s Reign in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, South Sudan