The Human Consequences of War, Malnutrition among Children in Palestine, Darfur and DRC - Case Study Example

Assess the human consequences of war, with specific focus on malnutrition among children in Palestine, Darfur and DRC From time immemorial, people have been ‘segregating’ themselves into different civilizations, kingdoms and importantly into nations attaining different identities. This evolution of geographical territories into the above mentioned entities was not a smooth affair, as most of the current territories indulged in wars and other conflicts to evolve and attain the current geographical ‘form’. In addition, countries normally fortify their armed forces and could indulge in aggressive actions to protect their territorial integrity, in order to ‘dominate’ other countries, as an deterrent against aggressive overtures of other countries, etc. Thus, the bottom line is, most of the countries of the world could have faced wars and other armed conflicts as part of their history, and importantly many countries are even facing it now and are considered as political and military hotspots. However, there are strong beliefs against these wars and armed conflicts, with sizable sections of the world community opining that all the above mentioned country specific factors for war are just a façade, and it is nothing but an authorized mass-scale killing and harming of innocent people. That is, if a territory evolves into a geographical state or protects its territorial integrity or dominate others or even develops mainly through the path of war and other conflicts, then it will considered as a cruel and dubious evolution. Although, wars are mainly fought between armed forces that is not the case always because during war there are loss of innocent human lives through direct attacks and also as a form of collateral damage. Importantly, there will also be inhumane treatment of people during times of conflict as well as after the conflict. Thus, the consequences of war on the humans will be manifold and quite tragically, along with adults, children could be affected maximally. Initially, children will be affected by the shock, awe and the stress related to the actual conflict. Then, as the war prolongs, and also after the end of the war, the children could undergo various physical and psychosocial problems. Many children are killed and sizable suffer from loss of body parts. Apart from these direct and tragic impacts, children in war torn areas also suffer due to health deterioration and the resultant illnesses and physical impairments caused by malnutrition. Malnutrition or deprival of nutritious and balanced diet to the children is one of the grave consequences of the war. As wars leads to disruption of production as well as supply of the food products, children suffer from dangerous health consequences. In war torn areas, agriculture and even the imports or supply of food could be restricted due to various factors, and it prevents the parents from giving nutritious and balanced diet to the children, leading to malnutrition. This paper will discuss this particular consequence of war, by focusing on the war torn territories of Palestine, Darfur and DRC. Palestine Palestine is the key hotspot for more than half a century of Arab–Israeli conflict. The Arab–Israeli conflict refers to the series of armed conflicts as well as political frictions that happened and is still happening between the Middle-East Asian countries and now predominantly groups like Hamas, PLO, etc., one side and Israel on the other side. Although, there have been no large-scale military conflicts between them for the past few decades, low-level conflicts in the form of forced occupations, suicide bombings, rocket attacks, etc, etc., keep on happening. The alleged occupation of the Palestinian territories by the Israeli troops and the resultant low-level attacks and restrictions placed on the Palestine people is leading to grave consequences, with children being primarily affected. Although, there have been reports of children being killed directly or collaterally during conflicts, far more number of children are being affected by malnutrition. More many children have been killed since the Palestinian uprising 2000, “but for the 1.5 million Palestinian children living in the West Bank and Gaza, theres another concern — skyrocketing rates of acute malnutrition.” (Raddatz). This malnutrition among the children is mainly due to the conflict and the repercussions caused by the conflict. That is, the conflict has led to sizable loss of livelihoods for the Palestinian men in the Israel and importantly restricted the Palestinians from carrying out on agriculture. Both these factors have crippled the Palestinian economy and are preventing them not only to produce the needed foods, but also from importing the needed foods, thus leading to heightened malnutrition. This was validated by the UNICEF-backed survey done by the Palestinian statistics bureau, which stated, “Nearly half of all young Palestinian children are suffering from chronic malnutrition, as tight work restrictions and curfews create shortages of money and food”. (cited in Raddatz). Before the 2000 Palestinian uprising, sizable number of Palestinians was working in Israel. The officials estimate the figure to be over 125,000 Palestinians and they brought home millions of dollars in wages. (John 2002). However, due to the conflict particularly the suicide bombings carried out by the Palestinian radical groups in Israeli lands and on Israeli people and troops, the work permits of many Palestinians were taken away. This cut off a major source of revenue and more than that the continual closures and curfews imposed in the territories of West Bank and Gaza further crippled the Palestine economy. In addition, “a year of international aid sanctions following an election victory by the Islamic Hamas and its takeover of the Palestinian government has intensified the hardships.” (The Associated Press 2007). Due to this devastation of the economy and resultant lack of financial movement, people could not afford to buy healthy and nutritious foods for them, and particularly for their children. The other factor, which further exacerbated the food situation in Palestine is the Israeli restriction on Palestinian’s control of natural resources particularly the agricultural land and water for irrigation as well as drinking purposes. That is, Israel restricted Palestinian’s access to prime agricultural land and thereby prevented or preventing them from carrying out agriculture on their own. In addition, Israel under the guise of constructing the protective walls along the territory boundaries, further encroached upon more agricultural land. Thus, lack of indigenous agricultural production is causing severe food shortage, leading to malnutrition. Atwood (2010) points out this aspect, by stating “Israels restrictions on Palestinian access to and development of agricultural land – in an area where almost all families are herders - mean that thousands of children are going hungry and are vulnerable to killer illnesses like diarrhoea and pneumonia.” This was supported by a report of WHO, which stated, “The theft of agricultural land during the construction of the so-called separation barrier, as well as blockades and closures, have resulted in up to 30% child malnutrition” (Stainton 2012). In addition, the continual closures and curfew further deteriorate the food situation, as supply of fresh foods and also drinking water gets impeded. Even the food aid done by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) and the World Food Program (WFP) gets obstructed during these curfews. WFP were unable to provide 84,000 of its poorest beneficiaries in Gaza their full aid rations because of the continued closure, thus making it difficult for the families to obtain adequate food for their children. (Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 2008). Due to these war related consequences, the child malnutrition is affecting many children in Palestine and is causing various health related complications. The number of children being affected by malnutrition is a particular children nutrition center in Gaza reveals the tragic picture. “We treated more than 8,400 children here in Gaza city, plus another 8,000 children at our centre in Khan Younis. All of them were under five years old, and all of them were malnourished.” (Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 2008). This malnutrition among the Palestinian children is leading physiological complications like low weight, stunted growth and even premature deaths in case of young infants. Among these, shunted growth is a key problem visible among many children. “There have been serious increases in child stunting, which is a proxy for chronic malnutrition, because it indicates prolonged exposure to malnutrition,” and according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 10.7 percent of Gazan children aged under five are suffering stunted growth. (Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 2008). In addition to this complication, various health problems are also seen in malnourished Palestinian children. Many of these children are anemic and have high incidence of diarrhea. These was also validated by facts, with Cole (2008) pointing out that “Anemia amongst children age nine to 12 months stands at 69 percent in Gaza and 47 percent in the West Bank”. Thus, it is clear the war and other conflicts in Palestine have crippled the economy and food production and supply, leading to severe malnutrition among Palestinian children causing physiological and health problems. Darfur Darfur, a region in western Sudan, is the conflict zone where the Sudanese government forces in association with the Janjaweed (a Sudanese militia comprising of indigenous Africans of Arab origin) are battling the non-Arab indigenous population led by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). The conflict or civil war started in 2003, and it is regarded as one of the worst humanitarian disasters, with millions of people killed and many more displaced from their homes. “Darfur has been a humanitarian crisis since 2003…Villages were burned, and countless women were raped; more than 200,000 people have died, according to conservative estimates.” (Gettleman 2007). It reached a semblance of peace in 2010, but even then there have been occasional bursts of fighting between the groups. However, importantly but quite tragically, extensive damages were already done before ceasefire was reached, with children being the most affected. Children were exposed to various forms of assaults and problems during the conflict. “Sexually-exploited girls, boy soldiers, unaccompanied children, and those who remain in under-resourced camps have experienced the protracted violence in unique ways.” (Judd). Among the many problems plaguing the children in Darfur, malnutrition is making huge negative impacts on the health of the children. What compounded the problem even further was the lack of food resources and the resultant malnutrition in Darfur even before the war has began. This was validated by Lambers (2011) who stated, “Even in normal times, this is a population with few resources to draw on. For example, health surveys conducted prior to the crisis revealed high levels of malnutrition among young children, a situation that is now certain to be aggravated.” Gettleman (2007) provided a different perspective of how malnutrition reduced in the initial years of the conflict, due to the inflow of funds as well as consignments of food items to manage food shortage. “In 2004, the acute malnutrition rate among the conflict-affected children was 21.8 percent. Then, in 2005, as hundreds of millions of dollars of resources were poured into the region, that rate dropped to 11.9 percent. It rose slightly to 12.9 percent last year.” (Gettleman 2007). Then, in 2007, it crossed the United Nations’ stipulated emergency threshold of 15 percent, with 16.1 percent of the children in Darfur affected by malnutrition. Malnutrition is on the upswing not only due to the continuing conflicts without any break, but also due to the lack of agricultural production. This lack of or even very minimal food production is due to the decrease in the percentage of Darfurians growing their own crops. According to Gettleman (2007) the people surveyed who were surveyed as part of the United Nations report stated they could not carry on with agricultural production because of the “insecurity and a lack of access to their farms.” Thus, it is clear that war induced restriction on agriculture is one of the basic reasons for the heightened malnutrition in Darfur. Quite tragically, in contrast to other war torn territories like Palestinian, majority of the malnourished children dies in Darfur, because of the difficulty in reaching the nutritious food to the needy children. That is, although there are sizable number of relief workers working in Darfur, and good amount of finances and importantly food items are pumped in, they are not able to reach the needy as the local troops on both sides of the conflict carry out violence against relief workers and the resultant lack of access to the relief camps. According to UN estimates, the attacks on the food convoys and aid workers have increased by 150 percent, and this preventing them from reaching the zones, where malnutrition is quite high. According to Gettleman (2007) this increase in attacks, “seems to be a result of the fragmentation of the conflict, with rebel groups splintering into warring factions and formerly allied militias turning on one another.” In addition, they also control the relief camps, and sometimes prevent the aid workers to provide the needed food items for the children citing many bureaucratic tangles. “Sometimes it is security services that hinder access or delay access, sometimes it is the humanitarian affairs office that delays access to the relief camps.” (Jennings et al. 2011). Gettleman (2007) confirms this by stating that chaotic security situation, “both inside the enormous camps of displaced people and in the desiccated rural areas” makes it difficult to reach the nutritious food for the malnourished children. All these impediments prevents the children from being fed with the nutritious and balanced diet, thus leading to various complications like low weight and suppressed immunity, which causes many diseases and deaths. Thus, it is clear that children in Darfur are deprived of apt food due to decreased food production, and importantly due to insecure situations, leading to malnutrition and the related eventualities. DRC The conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo or in the erstwhile Zaire started in 1998, when a civil war between two tribes in Rwanda spilled over into it. In mid 1990s, the genocidal Hutu regime in Rwanda was overthrown by the Tutsi dominated troops, and that led to the influx of over two million Hutus into Zaire. However, the fleeing Hutus allied themselves with the Zaire government, and started attacking the ethnic Tutsis in Zaire, who have living there for many years. This provoked the Tutsi militias, who in association with groups from Uganda marched into Kinshasa and overthrew then Zaire government, and “installed Laurent Kabila as president and he renamed the country - from Zaire to DR Congo.” (BBC 2010). However, it led to aggravation of conflicts, with other African Nations like Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola getting themselves in it. Thus, what started as a civil war between two tribes engulfed sizable part of the Southern and middle African continent, leading to huge loss of lives. Although the war was officially declared over in 2003, in the eastern parts of the country, conflicts continue to flare up. “Since war broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1998, more than five million people have died—most of them from lack of access to food and health care. And though the conflict officially ended in 2003, fighting has continued, mainly in the country’s eastern provinces.” (Oxfam 2009). Among the most affected were the children, with sizable number of children being killed as collateral damage, and importantly many of them suffering from malnutrition. As in Palestine and Darfur, lack of agricultural activities in DRC and the resultant shortage of food is the main and basic reason for malnutrition. The continuing conflict and the resultant displacement of the people from their homes plus agricultural lands are preventing people from carrying out agriculture. “Ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo is causing increased incidence of malnutrition among children whose families have been displaced and no longer have land for crops.” (World Vision 2008). In addition, even if the local population were able to plant and cultivate plants, they are not able to feed their children, because of the constant looting of the crops by the various groups. This was pointed by Kandala et al. (2011) who stated, “while the eastern provinces used to be the major food producers of the country, repeated looting of crops by armed groups and general insecurity over many years has hugely undermined production”. Apart from this low agricultural production, malnutrition among children is widely happening in DRC due to wide range of war related reasons. UN News Centre states that high malnutrition rates are “weak access – or lack of access – to healthcare and to drinkable water, poor access of households to good quality food, poor feeding practices of infants, young children and women.” The economy of DRC particularly the mining industry was also affected by the war, thus creating heavy shortfall in financial generation and thereby problems in food availability. These war caused impediments has led to increased malnutrition throughout DRC. IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in their report on DRC in 2009 stated that the malnutrition rates have crossed the UN’s 15 percent emergency threshold. World Vision (2008) added to this grim picture by stating, “before the conflict, nutrition experts were admitting one or two malnourished children per day at the World Vision nutrition center in Rwanguba, east of Rutshuru, however, since the fighting…, between eight and ten children have been arriving every day.” Due to this high malnutrition rates, children are suffering from many physiological illnesses, and in extreme cause are dying due to those illnesses. The malnourished children in DRC are showing the common symptoms of malnutrition including shunted growth, wasting of body or muscles and underweight. These changes suppress the immunity of the malnourished children leading to various diseases. For example, children are getting afflicted with detrimental diseases like Tuberculosis, diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, measles, etc. (UN News Centre). However, in the case of severely malnourished children, all these diseases as well as other health complications lead to death. Bird (2012) points out “An estimated 9.7 million children under the age of five will die this year of largely preventable illnesses. Malnutrition is estimated to contribute to half of these deaths.” Thus, from the above analysis of the situation in DRC, it is clear that war has obstructed not only agricultural production, but also blocked access of food items, leading to severe malnutrition among the DRC children. References Atwood, M., 2010. Suffering of Palestinian children is something both sides can agree on, [Online] Available at http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/suffering-of-palestinian-children-is- something-both-sides-can-agree-on-1.314309(Accessed on May 14, 2012) BBC., 2010. Q&A: DR Congo conflict, [Online] Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11108589(Accessed on May 14, 2012) Bird, C., 2012. The silent cost of child malnutrition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, [Online] Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/feb/15/silent- cost-child-malnutrition-congo(Accessed on May 14, 2012) Cole, J., 2008. Palestinian Children, [Online] Available at http://www.juancole.com/2008/04/palestinian-children.html(Accessed on May 14, 2012) Gettleman, J., 2007. Despite Aid, Malnutrition in Darfur Rises, [Online] Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/world/africa/27darfur.html(Accessed on May 14, 2012) Jennings, S., Glassborow, K., Adam, T., Musa, AMZ., 2011. UN Accused of Caving In to Khartoum Over Darfur, [Online] Available at http://iwpr.net/report-news/un-accused-caving-khartoum-over-darfur(Accessed on May 14, 2012) John, W., 2002. 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"Shocking" rate of malnutrition in donor- dependent Gaza, [Online] Available at http://electronicintifada.net/content/shocking-rate-malnutrition-donor-dependent- gaza/3319(Accessed on May 14, 2012) Raddatz, M. Surveys: Palestinian Kids Face Malnutrition, [Online] Available at http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=130192&page=1#.T7Fzq8WZd8E(Accessed on May 14, 2012) Stainton, R., 2012. Child prisoners in Israels jails, [Online] Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/25/child-prisoners-israel-jails(Accessed on May 14, 2012) The Associated Press., 2007. Poll: 10% of Palestinian children have lasting malnutrition effects, [Online] Available at http://www.haaretz.com/news/poll-10-of-palestinian-children-have-lasting-malnutrition-effects-1.217826(Accessed on May 14, 2012) UN News Centre. UN-backed survey finds alarming malnutrition rates in DR Congo, [Online] Available at http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34297&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo(Accessed on May 14, 2012) World Vision., 2008. Child malnutrition soaring in eastern Congo, [Online] Available at http://www.worldvision.org/news.nsf/news/congo-crisis-20081028(Accessed on May 14, 2012) Read More