291 words
9 May 2007
11:30
BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
English

(c) 2007 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No material may be reproduced except with the express permission of The British Broadcasting Corporation.

Text of report in English by Taiwanese Central News Agency website

[By J.J. Hwang & Elizabeth Hsu]

London, May 8 (CNA) - A total of 120 countries and areas around the world, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, are being covered in an unprecedented "peace" survey, whose results are expected to be released at the end of the month.
The world's first peace survey is the brainchild of Steve Killelea, a successful Australian entrepreneur and humanitarian, who came up with the idea during a trip to Africa four years ago during which he saw first-hand how wars and economic depression are afflicting the people on the continent.

With a scientific survey aimed at calculating the amount of peace in a nation, Killelea told CNA that he hopes the United Nations, governments, non-governmental organizations, as well as all civil groups around the world will take the survey as an indicator that reminds them how much still needs to be done to achieve true peace.

Killelea, the founder and chairman of Integrated Research Ltd., launched a charity foundation in 2000 dedicating to providing aid to people living in Third World countries.

Dafne Ter-Sakarian, chief of a client research department of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), is working with Killelea in carrying out the Global Peace Index survey. He said 650 researchers around the world have been mobilized for the challenging task of collecting and analysing data based on 24 different criteria.

They have been working on the survey for more than 300 days, Ter-Sakarian said, noting the results are expected to be released May 30.

Source: Central News Agency website, Taipei, in English 0615 gmt 9 May 07
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