Ten years after world leaders signed on to the 2030 Agenda, not a single target under Sustainable Development Goal 16—focused on peace, justice, and inclusion—is on track, a new UN report shows. Worse, 15% of those targets are actually going backward. The report, released by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), ️United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), lays out a sobering picture: rising conflict deaths, more attacks on journalists and human rights defenders, and growing discrimination have left the world further from peace than it was in 2015.
Women and children are bearing the worst of it. Between 2023 and 2024, more than 21,000 women and nearly 17,000 children were killed in conflicts—four times the number from the previous two years. Eight in 10 of the children killed and seven in 10 of the women were in Gaza. Overall, civilian deaths in conflicts jumped 40% in 2024, marking the third straight year of steep increases.
Every 14 hours, a journalist, trade unionist, or human rights defender is killed or disappears. Haoliang Xu, Acting Administrator at UNDP, says the stakes are clear: “Without urgent investment in governance that is inclusive, effective and accountable, the foundations of our societies are at risk.” Restoring peace isn’t just about fixing buildings—it’s about rebuilding trust, livelihoods, and the institutions that let people govern themselves fairly.
The report links many conflicts to governance failures like corruption, arms trafficking, and weak rule of law. But there’s some hope: global homicide rates have dropped since 2015 and could keep falling if current trends hold. Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, says the entire 2030 Agenda depends on respecting human rights. “Universal and indivisible, they are the foundation not only of SDG 16 but of all the Goals,” he said.
UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly calls the trends alarming. “Unless we act decisively to strengthen the rule of law, rebuild trust in institutions, and guarantee equal access to justice for all, we risk failing not only on SDG16 but the wider 2030 Agenda,” she warned. The authors urge governments, donors, and partners to invest in the rule of law, protect civic space, and push data-driven solutions so peace and justice can still be reached by 2030.
