More than 20 conflicts are currently taking place around the world. Of these, seven conflicts are each causing over 1,000 violent deaths per year. Most topical of the 'minor' conflicts (causing fewer fatalities) has been the resumption of sectarian killings in Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, the UK has been involved in wars for most of the last decade at least, including Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
One lesser known conflict is the Mexican drug war. Since 2006, it has led to around 10,000 deaths, 6,268 of them in 2008. For the most significant conflicts, look to Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. These include the two 'war on terror' fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan; the Israeli - Palestinian conflict; civil wars in Sri Lanka, Somalia, Congo and Sudan; as well as the ongoing standoff between nuclear powers India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
The civil war in Congo alone has claimed an estimated three to four million lives (more than any other conflict since World War Two). Most are from disease, malnutrition and the collapse of health services rather than actual violence - therein lies the great health challenge that wars present: not just the initial death toll (in places like Gaza and northern Sri Lanka), but the need to stem deaths from waterborne illnesses, malnutrition, and lack of medical care (eg obstetric). However, that does not begin to cover the long-term mental health problems of people who have seen friends, family and whole communities slaughtered around them.
Few organisations are equipped to respond to these sorts of crises. High profile groups, like the Red Cross and Medecins Sans Frontieres, enter acute situations, but gaps emerge during post-conflict reconstruction and lulls in fighting. Medair is a Christian organisation that specialises in long term health and relief projects to help restore such traumatised communities.
Nevertheless, aid organisations can only operate with the blessing of the government in the conflict zone. In Sudan, 13 international aid groups were recently expelled by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. They deny his allegations of aiding the International Criminal Court, which recently issued an arrest warrant for Bashir, holding him responsible for atrocities in Darfur. Reuters reports:
He wanted foreign aid groups to stop distributing aid in Sudan within a year... If carried out, the order will also create a dilemma for international donors, including the governments of the United States and Britain, over whether they will be able to continue to pour millions into projects across the underdeveloped country without full control over how their aid is distributed.
The stakes for justice have been raised. If the international community (eg United Nations (UN) and African Union) does not act soon, civilians stand to suffer more. 300,000 lives have already been lost and 2.75 million displaced from homes.
- reuters.com 2009; 16 March
- Economist 2009; 7 March
- wikipedia.org 2009; March
- globalsecurity.org 2009; March
