Rising human costs of war

persisting centre stage

July 30,
2014, 7:52 pm
BEIT LAHIA : A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike on a
compound housing a UN school in Beit Lahia in the northern a!a "trip, is
pictured at #amal Edwan hospital in Beit Lahia earl$ on %ul$ &', (')*+
Israeli ,om,ardments earl$ on %ul$ &' killed -do!ens- o. Palestinians in
a!a, including at least )/ at a UN school, medics said, on da$ (& o. the
Israel0Hamas con.lict+ AFP
The harrowing human su..ering in Palestine, "$ria and Ira1, to .ocus on
2ust three o. the ,loodiest contemporar$ theatres o. war, should remind
humankind anew o. a truth which the UN3P4s (')* Human 3e5elopment
6eport .reshl$ underscores+ That is, it is the poor who su..er most in these
raging con.licts+
I. $ou are poor, $ou are less a,le to handle se5eral
shocks7 $ou ma$ also ,e disa,led, $ou ma$ also ,e
older+ "o $ou ha5e more la$ers o. things against
$ou, #halid 8alik, the 6eport4s lead author was
1uoted telling reporters 2ust prior to the document4s
release recentl$ in Tok$o+ 9urrentl$, more than (+(
,illion people are :poor or are near poor4, and it is women, minorities
;ethnic, linguistic, religious, migrant or se<ual=, indigenous peoples, people
in rural or remote areas or li5ing with disa,ilities, and countries which are
landlocked or with limited natural resources, which are most a..ected ,$
po5ert$ issues+ The$ .ace the highest ,arriers to reasona,l$ good li5ing
standards+
Although po5ert$ is declining glo,all$, the growing income gap ,etween
the rich and the poor and :structural ine1ualities4 remain a :serious threat4,
the 6eport sa$s+ E1uall$ signi.icantl$ the 6eport adds that, :Eliminating
e<treme po5ert$ is not 2ust a,out -getting to !ero-7 it is also a,out sta$ing
there+4 And :sta$ing there4 is indeed an almost insurmounta,le challenge,
we ma$ add, in a market econom$ ,ecause o. spiraling price in.lation,
which is an ine5ita,le .eature o. this s$stem+
>hile the rich generall$ tide o5er the latter situation, the poor cannot
easil$ do so and .ind themsel5es ,eing increasingl$ pauperi!ed ,$ runawa$
price rises+ 9onse1uentl$, the$ are also rendered more and more
powerless and dependent+
The conclusion is inescapa,le that it is a high degree o. economic and
social planning ,$ states that would ena,le the poor to remain somewhat
una..ected ,$ rising li5ing costs+ I. this is not undertaken ,$ go5ernments,
the poor will remain at the merc$ o. market .orces, while the income gap
,etween the wealth$ and the poor increasingl$ widens, nulli.$ing in the
process, an$ positi5e outcomes in po5ert$ reduction e..orts ,$ states+
There.ore, it is in order .or states to undertake :structural re.orms4, such
as, ensuring the gradual empowerment o. low income social groups and
rendering economies immune to market .orces+
8eanwhile, it is the economicall$ less power.ul who su..er most grie5ousl$
in inter0state or intra0state militar$ con.licts+ This is ,orne out toda$ in the
a!a "trip where more than a )''' Palestinians ha5e ,een reportedl$
killed ,$ the Israeli securit$ .orces in the latter4s e..orts to protect Israel
against Hamas attacks+ 8eanwhile, more than ?' Israelis ha5e died in the
hostilities as well+
Being economicall$ and militaril$ less power.ul, the Palestinians are the
more a..ected part$ in this round o. hostilities+ Besides, Israeli .ire power,
as should ,e e<pected, is ,olstered greatl$ ,$ the militar$ and material
assistance e<tended to Israel ,$ the U" and this too makes Israel a
.ormida,le .oe o. its opponents on the Palestinian side+
>ithin "$ria and Ira1 too, .or instance, it is the poor and the religious
minorities, such as 9hristians, who are a..ected most ,$ the ra5ages o.
war+ The displaced in these con.licts are, thus, the most powerless and
the$ ha5e no choice ,ut to escape to neigh,ouring states with the 5ain
hope o. .inding succour in these :recei5ing countries4+ Howe5er, reports
indicate that man$ o. these re.ugees are compelled to return to their home
countries no sooner the$ lea5e them, on account o. the inhospita,le climes
that await them in the :host4 states+
>hile the nota,l$ high num,er o. the poor worldwide is a cause .or
continuing concern, it is plain to see that runawa$ 5iolence and war in the
de5eloping world is a predominant .actor in the increasing pauperi!ation
and disempowerment o. persons and communities+ @or instance,
continuing armed con.lict in the 8iddle East has kept a considera,le
num,er o. Palestinians in a,2ect po5ert$+ The$ are also among the .irst to
,e displaced ,$ war+ Thus, war and con.lict pla$ a huge role in rendering
communities 5ulnera,le and weak, materiall$ and emotionall$+ All these
and more .eatures o. armed con.lict constitute a considera,le proportion o.
the human costs o. war+
There.ore, the de5eloping world, in particular, needs to make much
headwa$ in the po5ert$ reduction and alle5iation e..ort, i. persons and
groups are to pro5e less 5ulnera,le to the desta,ili!ing e..ects o. war and
armed con.rontation+ But com,ating po5ert$ would pro5e most di..icult
amid conditions o. war and it is the responsi,ilit$ o. go5ernments and the
international communit$ to ensure that con.lict and con.rontation are
de.used no sooner the$ emerge+ This is one o. the most onerous
undertakings that ha5e ,een 5e<ing the international communit$ o5er the
decades+
Howe5er, the challenge has to ,e met success.ull$ i. gains are to ,e made
in e..orts to drasticall$ reduce world po5ert$+ I. not, we would ,e ha5ing a
situation where po5ert$ and war would ,e .eeding o.. each other+ Indeed,
this is happening in some con.lict0ridden parts o. the world+
The UN3P 6eport has done well to .ocus on this anomal$ o. there ,eing a
general decline in glo,al po5ert$ ,ut o. more than one ,illion people
continuing to li5e ,elow the o..icial po5ert$ line o. A )+(? or less per da$+
How does one account .or this seeming parado<B Apparentl$, although
some sections are clim,ing out o. po5ert$, income ine1ualities are growing
at a stead$ pace+ E5identl$, wealth is not :trickling0down4 to the poor, and
with a degree o. e1ualit$, at the desired pace+
The in.erence needs to ,e drawn that mere wealth generation is not
su..icient+ >hile wealth must ,e steadil$ created, it must ,e ensured that
this wealth is e1uall$ distri,uted, nationall$ and glo,all$+ I. not, space is
,eing created .or economic discontent and e5entual con.lict and war+
Apparentl$, sections o. the world acted in great haste ,$ dismissing out o.
hand the socialist de5elopment model, once the 9old >ar crum,led+ >hile,
what the world needed was a de5elopment model which com,ined
economic growth with redistri,uti5e 2ustice, emphasis was laid on the
.ormer element, while the latter component was almost .orgotten+ This
could 5er$ well ,e one o. the reasons wh$ we ha5e had almost an upsurge
o. social discontent and war o5er the past &' $ears or so, although most
sections o. the world anticipated uninterrupted wealth0generation and
,ourgeoning :democrac$4 with the ending o. the 9old >ar+
The UN3P has done well to .ocus on :structural4 .actors that need to ,e
addressed ,$ the international communit$ in the latter4s e..orts to ,uild a
less con.lict0prone world, ,ut what the world needs, among other things, is
an international and ,inding consensus on a de5elopment model which
com,ines growth with e1uit$+ Cnce this is achie5ed, the world must ,e
held accounta,le .or its implementation+
Posted by Thavam