The aim of Sustainable Development Goal 16 (goal 16) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to “promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”.

This report draws on available data to urge policy-makers to recognize that the current pace of change is insufficient to address some of the most significant challenges facing people today:

• Violence is rising and the nature of conflict is evolving. Although the perception of safety remained stable in the period 2016–2021, intentional homicide reached a peak in 2021. The following year, according to data on 12 of the deadliest armed conflicts around the world, at least 16,988 civilians were killed in war operations, a 53 per cent increase compared with 2021, and the first increase since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda.
• Trafficking in persons appears more hidden than before. 2019–2020 saw a decrease in numbers of victims detected in general, but an increase in the percentage of child victims detected, from 28 per cent in 2014 to 35 per cent in 2021.
• The gap in people’s ability to access justice continues to be significant. Less than half the population report crimes such as robbery, physical assault and sexual assault and the total number of persons in detention has continued to grow over the past two decades, with the share of unsentenced detainees increasing in 2021. With the inclusion of access to dispute resolution mechanisms in the 2030 Agenda, countries are now beginning to collect data on the indicator.
• There is a clear correlation between bribery affecting individuals and businesses. This illustrates a common pattern of corruption in countries. Notably, the proportion of people who were asked to pay or paid a bribe to a public official differs depending on the income level of countries – with a higher level of prevalence in low- and middle-income countries than in upper middle-income and high-income countries.
• Women are underrepresented at senior levels of decision-making. Women continue to face glass ceilings that limit their career aspirations in public service. Women are less equally represented in senior levels in public service roles and in supreme and constitutional courts than in lower-level positions.
• It is becoming more dangerous and deadly for human rights defenders and journalists. There was a 40 per cent increase in killings and a nearly 300 per cent increase in enforced disappearances from 2021 to 2022.
• Discrimination is prevalent worldwide, with one in six people having experienced discrimination during the previous 12 months. Women are twice as likely as men to experience dis- crimination based on sex or marital status. One in three persons with disabilities experience discrimination, twice the rate of persons with- out disabilities. Racial discrimination, related to ethnicity, colour or language, is among the most common grounds of discrimination.

Today, we have more available data on goal 16 than ever before. Far more data are still needed but this clearly shows that urgent action is necessary if whole-sale reversals in progress across goal 16 are to be prevented. The current trajectory is not inevitable. We have seven years in which to make the changes needed and recalibrate our efforts. We have seven years in which to make the changes needed and recalibrate our efforts. We have increasing evidence of the interlinkages between addressing peaceful, just and inclusive societies and ending poverty and inequality. We know that reducing homicide can have a significant impact on GDP, that the quality of governance systems influences development outcomes, and that the realization of human rights is at the core of leaving no one behind.