In an
annual tradition for DrPHealth, it is time to reflect on our progress (or lack
thereof) in addressing global peace.
Three deaths in the past month of Canadian military personal on Canadian
soil are a sobering reminder of the costs of a path other than peace.
2013 has
seen two new armed conflicts and one resolved with 33 active conflicts – a number
that has remained fairly constant for the past decade. Seven of these are defined as wars with over
1000 deaths. The formal listing of
conflicts is found though the Uppsala Department of Peace and Conflict datasets
accessible at UCDP/PRIO
data files. Wikipedia
maintains a good list as well and lists 12 conflicts with over 1000 annual deaths
and 29 additional conflicts. Slight
variance in definitions leads to inclusion of issues like the Mexican drug war
as an armed conflict with Wikipedia and not a conflict under the PRIO
guidelines.
The newest
conflict being in the eastern regions of the Ukraine where so far this year an
estimated 3700 people have died. Four of
these conflicts appear to have taken over 10,000 lives with the Syrian Civil
War accounting for roughly 40% of all global armed conflict deaths in 2013 at
nearly 75,000. The ISIS conflict is now
the second largest global cause of war related deaths while the South Sudanese conflict has abated going into 2014 and the
current year deaths estimated at only 10% of 2013 where deaths exceeding
10,000.
At nearly 2
Million cumulative deaths the Afghani civil conflicts involving the Taliban and 4.5 Million in the tensions between North
and South Korea these have the largest cumulative toll. The Korean conflict approaching 70 years and
the Taliban insurgency 35 years speaking to the challenges of intergenerational
conflicts in which families are in a constant state of potential crisis.
While total
numbers of war related deaths are not easily tracked, the listing in Wikipedia
once again suggests deaths in 2013 as about 100,000. The positive news is that cumulative through
early November in 2014 would suggest these numbers have decreased by about a third. In addition to the Ukraine, the surging
conflicts are in Libya, Nigeria and Central African Republic where combined
deaths exceed the cumulative toll from Ebola.
Four
Canadian have lost their lives in military duty, two within training exercise
and Warrant Officer Patrick Vincent and Corporal Nathan Cirillo in targeted killing
on Canadian soil. Fallen
Canadians
The
shooting of five RCMP with three deaths in Moncton in June, combined with one
car crash and one on duty sudden cardiac event round out the list of those that
have died in the service of protecting the people of our country from the effects
of conflict. Officer Down
In a
tribute to those that serve to protect us, homicide in Canada continues to edge
downwards with current rates about half of their peak in the mid 1970’s. In honour of those that do serve, celebrate
the success of their efforts Homicide
in Canada
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