Low socio-economic development can support the conditions for social violence and conflict, but it is also a consequence of violence and conflict. Through Goal 16, the SDGs recognize the long reaching consequences of conflict and violence for development outcomes. Not only is violence a severe hindrance for development, it can reverse many years of development gains. A whole of society approach is required to proactively address on and offline misinformation networks, ensuring that government, civil society, private sector and vulnerable populations work together to inform policies and programming that balances freedom of expression with the need to curb mis/disinformation. Recognizing the centrality of Goal 16 as an enabler and accelerator for the 2030 Agenda, further efforts are required to strengthen national capacities for data collection, analysis and data prioritization. As with many other Sustainable Development Goals it is also urgent to address the lack of data disaggregated by sex, race, colour, age, language, religion, national, ethnic or social origin, disability, migration or other status. KEYWORD: crime, peace, SDG16, conflict, sustainable development, COVID-19