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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS : PEACE AND JUSTICE

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS : PEACE AND JUSTICE

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DEFINITION

SDG 16 promotes peace, justice, and strong institutions by ensuring safe societies, equal access to justice, and effective governance.

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1. Problem: Violence and Conflict

Many places in the world face wars, crime, and violence, making people feel unsafe.

Solution: Promote peace by encouraging dialogue between conflicting groups, reducing access to dangerous weapons, and educating communities about peaceful conflict resolution.

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Access to Justice for All:

Everyone should have the right to fair treatment and access to justice. This goal is about ensuring that people can get help from the law when they need it, without discrimination, and that justice systems work properly for everyone.

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Strong Institutions and Good Governance:

SDG 16 focuses on creating strong, trustworthy institutions like governments, courts, and public services. It’s important that these organizations are fair, honest, and accountable, meaning they should act in the best interests of the people and not be corrupt.

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Peaceful and Inclusive Societies:

SDG 16 is about making the world more peaceful and fair for everyone. This means working to reduce violence, prevent conflicts, and make sure that all people, no matter who they are, feel safe and included in their communities.

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2. Problem: Lack of Justice

In some countries, not everyone has access to fair treatment in courts or legal help. Corruption or weak justice systems make it hard for people, especially the poor, to get justice.

Solution: Strengthen legal systems by improving access to lawyers, ensuring fair trials, and fighting corruption in courts. Teach people about their rights and give them better access to legal aid.

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3. Problem: Corruption and Weak Institutions

Some governments or institutions are corrupt, meaning they might misuse money or power. This makes it hard for them to help people fairly or build trust.

Solution: Improve transparency by making sure the government and institutions openly share information about their actions and decisions. Encourage public participation and hold leaders accountable for their actions.

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Why Should We Punish? Theories of Punishment

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How to prevent political corruption - Stephanie Honchell Smith

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Strengthening the Rule of Law: Countries need to enhance legal frameworks and judicial systems to ensure equal access to justice and reduce unsentenced detainees​

1. Our World in Data

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Combatting Corruption: Transparency and anti-corruption measures, such as tracking public spending and enforcing legal penalties for bribery, can reduce the prevalence of corruption​UNDP

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Reducing Violence: Efforts to address the root causes of conflict—such as inequality, organized crime, and arms trafficking—are essential for lasting peace​

UNSD

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An estimated 5 billion people have unmet justice needs globally, including people who cannot obtain justice for everyday problems, people who are excluded from the opportunity the law provides, and people who live in extreme conditions of injustice.

This justice gap underscores the urgency of realizing justice for all and demonstrates unacceptable levels of exclusion from justice. In Measuring the Justice Gap: A People-Centered Assessment of Unmet Justice Needs Around the World, a report produced by the World Justice Project with expert input from the Task Force on Justice, learn about the development process, measurement approach, and progress being made to estimate the scale and impact of the justice gap.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals lay out ambitious targets to guide global and national development policies to 2030, including target 16.3's promise to "ensure equal access to justice for all." However, as the availability of data on people's experience of justice grows, it is becoming increasingly clear that the world is not on track to meet this target. The data presented in this report demonstrate that many people face justice problems, and too few get the justice they need. This "justice gap" undermines human development, reinforces the poverty trap, and imposes high societal costs. Closing the justice gap is therefore vital to realizing the broader development agenda and its vision of a "just, equitable, tolerant, open and socially inclusive world in which the needs of the most vulnerable are met."

The justice gap can be understood as the number of people who have at least one unmet justice need. These are people who are ultimately not getting the justice they need for both everyday problems and severe injustices. The WJP estimates that there are:

1.5 billion people who cannot obtain justice for civil, administrative, or criminal justice problems. These are victims of crime and people with civil and administrative justice needs who may live in contexts with functioning institutions and justice systems, but who face obstacles to resolving their everyday justice issues.

4.5 billion people who are excluded from the opportunities the law provides. These are people who lack legal tools - including identity documents, land or housing tenure, and formal work arrangements - that allow them to protect their assets and access economic opportunities or public services to which they have a right.

253 million people who live in extreme conditions of injustice. This includes people who are stateless, victims of modern slavery, and people who live in fragile states with high levels of insecurity.

When viewed in the aggregate, these figures amount to 5.1 billion people - or approximately two thirds of the world's population - who face at least one of these justice issues, with many confronted by multiple injustices. While this aggregate estimate certainly demonstrates unacceptable levels of exclusion from justice, the justice gap assessment aims to go beyond this high-level figure and serve as the first step in an effort to better understand the multifaceted and overlapping forms of injustice that people face.

Download the report:

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In Measuring the Justice Gap: A People-Centered Assessment of Unmet Justice Needs Around the World, the WJP estimates that an aggregate of 5.1 billion people have unmet justice needs globally.

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What can the community and leaders do to help people feel safe and treated fairly again?