EDITORIAL: A four-paper series recently published by a respected medical journal, The Lancet, highlights the effects of protracted conflicts on women and children, calling for an international commitment from humanitarian actors and donors to confront political and security challenges. Based on analyses, existing evidence from a range of local research partners, humanitarian agencies and civil society organizations, the series’ authors say the risk of women and children living near conflict areas has risen substantially during the last two decades. Between 6.7 million infants and more than 10 million children under the age of five years born within 50 km of armed conflicts are estimated to have died from indirect consequences of fighting across Africa, Asia and the Americas between 1995 and 2015, also creating a large number of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs). Ironically enough, directly or indirectly involved in most of these conflicts have been Western countries commanded by the ‘Leader of the Free World”, the US.
Furthermore note the authors, in 2017, one in ten women and one in six children worldwide were either forcibly displaced by conflict or lived dangerously close to conflict zones. Around a third of those affected were in Pakistan, Nigeria, and India. The nature of these conflicts, however, is very different, requiring different counteractions. In the case of Pakistan, the blowback from the Afghan conflict in the form of violent extremists accounts for most of the lives lost, IDPs, and Afghan refugees. Thanks to an effective state response, peace has returned to the troubled region, paving the way for the IDPs return to their homes as well as construction of hospitals, schools and other infrastructure projects. In Nigeria, the government forces remain embattled with the murderous Boko Haram militants who have killed thousands of people, soldiers and civilians alike, including several aid workers since the conflict started in 2009. The case of India is entirely different. There the state has resorted to relentless repression against the people in the illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, creating a humanitarian crisis. Since August 2019 the region has been under siege with severe restrictions on movement of people together with a communication blackout. Even children are not spared arrest and torture. And as reported by international rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, rape and sexual harassment of women is commonly practiced as an instrument of war. Access to medical facilities is difficult, if not impossible. Further compounding the situation has been Covid-19, first reported in the disputed region last March, forcing the infected people to stay home or risk facing soldiers.
The Lancet researchers have urged humanitarian actors and donors to confront political and security challenges, and devise a framework for indentifying high priority interventions to reach women and children with the best care possible. That indeed is a challenging task in nearly all conflict areas. However, considering that in the illegally Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir it is the state which is causing far greater suffering to women and children than the actual conflict, it should not be so difficult for the international community, especially the big players - provided they have the will - to confront the New Delhi government and demand an end to its reign of terror.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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