Conflict Kills More Than Soldiers

We are all familiar with the usual news stories covering conflict throughout the world – the stories detailing bloody battle scenes and troop movements, the tallies of the dead, the political ramifications of a victory or defeat. However, it is the more subtle consequences of ravaging conflict – such as disease, poverty, and hunger – that are often ignored, but are keenly felt by those caught in the crossfire.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the Democratic Republic of Congo, slowly emerging after a 7-year civil war which has killed nearly four million people. Shockingly, it is estimated that 96% of those killed were not victims of violence but of disease, which was exacerbated by the instability and deterioration of available land for farming[1]. This long-standing conflict also accelerated the pollution of streams and water resources, through the breakdown of sanitation systems.
How exactly are these resources destroyed in the midst of conflict? Unbridled interstate violence causes large populations to flee to safer regions, leaving their land uncultivated and their water sources vulnerable to mismanagement and abuse. Often, the evacuating masses find themselves in refugee camps, or smaller villages that are unable to sustain large groups. Land is overcultivated and destroyed, sanitation systems are overloaded or nonexistent, and disease, including dysentery, becomes rampant. As the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) grows, so too does the death rate from otherwise preventable ailments[2].
Hunger also becomes a viable threat in conflict-ridden regions. As civilians are chased from their farms and homesteads, unable to salvage any of their crops as they flee to local refugee shelters, the demand for food escalates in local aid centers. Often, aid groups, ranging from MSF to Save the Children to UN agencies, simply do not have the means to supply the hundreds of starving individuals who depend on them for sustenance. It is estimated that nearly 180,000 refugees have succumbed to hunger in Sudan’s Darfur region[3].
Poverty, disease, and hunger are not limited to locations where conflict is rife, however. State-directed violence often has ripple effects throughout entire regions, because the economy is permanently disrupted and disabled. How? First, notes K.Y. Amoako, UN Under-Secretary-General, conflict destroys capital, a critical component of any functioning economy. Also destroyed are vital infrastructure, such as roads, highways, and vital communication lines, making any sort of economic task, like trade, difficult to accomplish.
Second, violent conflict encourages all investors, both foreign and domestic, to divert their funds outside of the country, a staggering blow to any economy. Without money from investors, corporations cannot produce, consumers cannot purchase products, and the economy is brought to a standstill. This process, known as “capital flight,” is most prevalent on the African continent due to its volatility.
Third, conflict will swallow extraordinary amounts of a country’s GDP. In order to finance tanks, guns, troops, and other military apparatus, it is not unusual for leaders to redirect up to 50% of the GDP to finance these costly military campaigns[4].
Poverty and hunger do not only occur in areas which are beset with violent conflict, however. Corruption is endemic on the African continent, abetted by the autocratic governments which are unaccountable to voters. According to Transparency International, half of the African continent, roughly 420 million people, lives in abject poverty, despite its wealth of natural resources. TI attributes this gaping disparity to the prevalence of corruption in African governments, many of which siphon the proceeds from these resources into their own pockets, depriving their citizens of valuable income[5].

[1] Relief Web. (2006). DRC: Hungry Congolese dying in food-short Katanga camps. Retrieved 19 April 2006, from http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/SODA-6N332Y?OpenDocument.
[2] Global Issues. (2006). Conflicts in Africa: The Democratic Republic of Congo. Retrieved 20 April 2006, from http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/Africa/DRC.asp
[3] 5 Lawmakers Arrested at Darfur Protest, by Andrew Miga, Washington Post, 28 April 2006, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/28/AR2006042800893.html.
[4] “The Economic Causes and Consequences of Civil Wars and Unrest in Africa,” by K.Y. Amoako, UN Undersecretary General and Executive Secretary of Economic Commission for Africa, delivered 8 July 1999. Retrieved 20 April 2006, from http://www.uneca.org/eca_resources/speeches/amoako/99/0808es_speech_war.htm.
[5] Transparency International. (2006). Sub-Saharan Africa. Regional Page. Retrieved 20 April 2006, from http://www.transparency.org/regional_pages/africa_middle_east/about/africa .