War costs the earth. Literally.
- Wars and armed conflicts around the world kill hundreds to thousands of people each year.
- Wars turn families into refugees, forcing people to leave their homes, countries and regions. To leave cultures, traditional medicines and foods.
- Wars turn adults and children into soldiers and/or victims, creating an intergenerational spiral towards further conflict into the future.
- Wars destroy environments, lives and economies. And they happen all the time.
In any one year there are estimated to be around 30 wars and armed conflicts in the world. Many of these are beyond the reach of mainstream media coverage, and may be little known outside of their region.
Armed conflicts are not only harmful because of the deaths and injuries they cause both to combatants and civilians. In the lead up to, during and after conflicts, there many issues that impact on people and the environment, including
- numerous adverse health impacts,
- displacement of populations,
- the breakdown of services,
- a loss of cultural identities, traditional foods and medicines.
The consequences of these can live on long after the shooting ends, and the impact is almost always most severe on the civilian population, particularly women and children.
The costs of these wars are beyond measure in many ways. The issues facing veterans and victims of war, as well as civilians surviving post-conflict are all enormous. The problems faced by displaced populations and refugees are numerous, as are the economic costs of war to nations.
All of these issues directly impact on Australia, especially as we are currently involved in two major theatres of war, the Afghanistan conflict since 2001 and the Iraq war since 2003.
Key resources:
- The causes and costs of war. An address by Dr Jenny Grounds, MAPW Vice President, April 24th, 2011.
- Vision 2030: An Alternative Approach to Australian Security. An examination of the Australian Defence Department’s 2009 white paper.