World: Inter-agency messaging for the Vienna Conference on Protecting Civilians in Urban Warfare 1-2 October 2019
As States meet in Vienna for the Conference on Protecting Civilians in Urban Warfare, we appeal to them to take immediate action to better protect the 50 million people currently affected by urban warfare.
As field-based humanitarian, human rights and development organizations, protecting and assisting millions of people in the world’s conflict zones, we are acutely aware of the catastrophic humanitarian impact that results from urban warfare and, in particular, the widespread use of explosive weapons in towns, cities and other populated areas.
From Afghanistan to Iraq, Nigeria to Somalia, Syria to Ukraine, Yemen and elsewhere, the bombing and shelling of towns and cities kills thousands of civilians every year. Last year, more than 22,000 civilians were killed or injured by aircraft bombs, rockets, improvised explosive devices and other explosive weapons. When explosive weapons were used in populated areas, nine in every ten people killed or injured were civilians. A report this year by Save the Children found that suicide bombs, landmines, unexploded ordinance, and air strikes account for 72% of child deaths and injuries across the world’s deadliest conflicts.
But this problem is about more than civilians being killed and injured. When explosive weapons are used in populated areas we see a predictable, widespread and devastating pattern of long-term harm.
Those injured by explosive weapons range from the very young to the very old. They suffer horrific, life-changing injuries that impact their families and communities for years to come.
Blast injuries require specialist medical care, psycho-social support and rehabilitation services.
Yet, such support frequently does not exist in war zones, sometimes because hospitals have been destroyed or rendered inoperable, or because healthcare providers have been killed or injured in attacks.
In 2018, the World Health Organization recorded 705 attacks against healthcare facilities in just eight conflicts: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen. Explosive weapons were used in 38% of those attacks.
The loss of access to healthcare can be devastating for the broader civilian population. In Yemen, 135 health facilities have been attacked since 2015 rendering most of them inoperable at a time when they are needed the most.
Bombing and shelling damages or destroys critical infrastructure, such as water and sewage systems and electrical power grids. The loss of these services can affect the broader civilian population. There is no safe water to drink or clean with, bakeries cannot produce bread, hospitals cannot operate, and raw sewage accumulates and poses a grave threat to public health.
In Yemen, for example, attacks affecting the water and sanitation system, combined with lack of fuel and electricity and poor maintenance, mean that some 16 million people lack access to safe water and sanitation. Over one million cases of cholera have been confirmed since the epidemic erupted last year.
