By Emily Thompson | Source

Our world is crisis-ridden, and millions of people are suffering each day. Today, over 110 armed conflicts are taking place around the world. These conflicts, driven by regional wars, foreign interventions, attacks on civilians, and other factors, directly impact 14% of the world’s population.

As violence surrounds civilian areas, it leads to the destruction of critical
infrastructure, contamination of food and water supplies, and exacerbates extreme poverty, according to research conducted by grassroots action platform Global Citizen.

Each of the following conflicts has resulted in a massive humanitarian crisis, leaving millions of people without access to basic needs due to violence and political instability. Many of these conflicts have led to the widespread displacement of millions of innocent civilians.

As a result of these current conflicts, according to Global Citizen, the world’s largest refugee crisis is currently underway, with an estimated 114 million people displaced worldwide due to conflict, persecution, and human rights violations.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been experiencing conflict for over a decade. Violent clashes have forced over 7 million civilians to relocate.

As the violence has increased, humanitarian organizations are warning of instances where large numbers of civilians are being killed.

With clashes across the country disrupting important transportation routes and destroying food and water sources, 25 million people face food insecurity as aid groups cannot reach civilians in need.

Syria

Syrians are living through one of the world’s longest humanitarian crises. Over 12 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes, seeking refuge in neighboring countries and Europe, straining resources as aid agencies attempt to meet everyone’s basic needs.

The Syrian civil war has been ongoing since the eruption of the Arab spring, when protests led to a series of conflicts. The prolonged fighting has devastated cities, destroyed infrastructure, and crippled Syria’s economy, forcing a whopping half of the country’s pre-war population to move elsewhere. As a result, 90% of the population lives below the poverty line.

Yemen

For the past ten years, an intense civil war has rocked Yemen, leaving more than 21.6 million people requiring humanitarian assistance.

The Iran-supported Houthi rebel organization has destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure of hospitals, schools, and water systems, as well as severely disrupted the economy, leading almost 83% of the population to live in poverty. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns of a prolonged food crisis, where 17 million people are experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity, including a shocking 2.2 million malnourished children.

Houthi blockades within the country and throughout the Red Sea have disrupted some of the world’s most important shipping routes, disrupting the global supply chain.

Burkina Faso

The ongoing conflict in several large regions of Burkina Faso has placed more than two million civilians under siege.

Attacks by armed groups have led over 237,000 people to flee their homes in 2021, with the total number of refugees from Burkina Faso growing each year. This year alone, thousands have fled to neighboring Mali.

As the central government works to reclaim territory from non-state armed groups, more than 40% of the population lives below the national poverty line.

On top of these troubles, the year’s low rainfall, in addition to an intense heatwave in the Sahel region of Africa, caused poor harvests and killed livestock, further limiting the already-low food supply.

Sudan and South Sudan

The current civil war across Sudan and South Sudan has resulted in 25 million people requiring humanitarian assistance. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, but both countries have remained linked in several ways. As the civil war enters its second year in Sudan, continuing violence between armed groups in South Sudan are only exacerbating a catastrophic humanitarian situation which has seen approximately six million people displaced.

Reports of mass killings and ethnic cleansing have made life in Sudan extraordinarily dangerous. In Sudan, at least 15,550 people have been killed in the past year; in South Sudan, hundreds of people were murdered last year.

As a result, more than seven million people in South Sudan are expected to face crisis or worse levels of food insecurity this year, while a third of Sudan’s 49 million people are reported to be experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity.

Gaza

On October 7, 2023, the terrorist organization Hamas killed over 1,200 Israelis, and over 240 more were taken hostage. Since then, the ensuing conflict has resulted in mass destruction, and death.

In addition to the loss of homes, livelihoods, and lives, Palestinians are experiencing a dangerous humanitarian crisis in which valuable food aid rarely makes it into people’s hands as Hamas steals as much aid as it can.

At the same time, approximately 100 Israeli hostages are still captive in Hamas’s tunnels and 80,000 Israelis remain internally displaced refugees as Hezbollah has fired rockets and drones at Israel’s north nearly every day since Oct. 8.

Ukraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to the largest forced migration in Europe since World War II, with 3.7 million Ukrainians becoming internally-displaced and 6.5 million becoming refugees in other countries. After two years of fighting, the conflict has destroyed lives and livelihoods across Ukraine.

Ukraine’s valuable wheat crops are consistently threatened by the fighting, destabilizing food production around the world as well as food sources within the country.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 14.6 million people are in need of humanitarian aid.

Afghanistan

Forty years of conflict has left an indelible scar on Afghanistan’s 41 million people. The Taliban took over the country’s governance in 2021, exacerbating an already-shocking humanitarian crisis. Women have now lost the right to be heard or seen in public and must always wear a full-body Burqa. Girls are forbidden from receiving an education.

The UN reports that 30.6 million Afghans are in need of urgent humanitarian aid.

Taking action

The situation in each of these countries is currently at catastrophe levels, and they are only projected to get worse if humanitarian aid is not introduced and sustained.

Without immediate intervention in each of these conflicts, millions of innocent civilians in these countries remain at risk of further displacement, hunger and even annihilation.

Thanks to Global Citizen, and their highlighting of these devastating conflicts, the time is now for the international community to band together and help these millions of people in desperate need of aid.