ABSTRACT

Armed conflicts may have a number of effects: • the direct and indirect human casualties, the latter (much larger than the

former) occurring largely as a result of reduced food supplies and access to health facilities which are sometimes the result of a deliberate strategy of war;

• the longer-term impacts on human beings who have experienced war and associated impacts, including post-traumatic stress and other psychological effects, the loss of skills and the impact of malnourishment in infancy and childhood on subsequent adult productivity;

• the development of a long-term ‘culture of violence’; • the loss or damage to physical capital and infrastructure, in part the direct

result of war and in part a consequence of disrupted or neglected maintenance work;

• the breakdown of government and institutions; • in a number of countries, the widespread use of anti-personnel mines

has left former agricultural areas unusable and continues to inflict casualties on civilians decades after the war is over;

• in some war zones, environmental damage is extensive and long-lasting, and natural resources may be exploited at excessive rates to finance the war.