Human Rights
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Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Children
UNIFEM:
Difficulties faced by Citizens due to Armed Conflict
Specific Adverse Impact on Women and Children
2006
Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Children

UNIFEM 2006

Difficulties faced by Citizens due to Armed Conflict
No Security of Life and Property

The conflict has had a severe impact on the lives of innocent civilians as well as their property. Conflict has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent civilian population. Due to lack of security, people were afraid to travel even within the country due to fear of being killed by either side. On the other hand the state owned property and the property of the general population was also destroyed on a large scale.

Violation of Human Rights

The human right of people was grossly violated in the conflict situation. During the emergency, all the constitutionally guaranteed citizen's rights were suspended except for the right to habeas corpus. With the emergency imposed, no voices were visibly heard against the violation of human rights. Media was - censored, civil society activities were virtually curtailed or were forced to obtain prior approval from the Chief District Office for organizing any programme. Citizens were deprived from receiving basic facilities such as communication, basic health facilities, drinking water etc. They had to travel hours to reach their destination as the Maoists had destroyed the shortcut roads.

Internal Displacement

One of the major consequences of the insurgency in Nepal has been the internal displacement of the hundreds of thousands of people from the affected areas. However till date there is no reliable data regarding IDP's who were forced to stay helplessly away from their own native villages. The basic reasons for the displacement are: association of a family member with the insurgents or mere suspicion of such association, sexual exploitation by either party or fear of such sexual exploitation or fear of life resulting from not supporting either party to the conflict, forced recrutment, indiscriminate killing, torture from both parties, disappearence etc.

Forced Migration & unsafe Migration

As a result of the conflict, many people particularly the productive group of youth and men are forced to migrate to foreign lands.

Encroachment of Land and Household by the Conflicting Parties

One of the major impacts of the armed conflict is the encroachment of land and households in many parts of the country.

Unemployment

As a result of the ongoing conflict in the nation, most people were forced to migrate to foreign lands or they were forced to leave their native villages and move to the district center or to Kathmandu Valley, which has resulted, in an increase in the population of Kathmandu Valley. Due to this, the number of unemployed people is increasing day by day.

Use of Landmines

The use of landmines by both parties, the state and the Maoists, was of grave concern in terms of human rights violation. Civilians and children were most severely victimized by landmines. In terms of international human rights law, both parties were violating international law by using landmines as a weapon of war. Landmines left behind in certain areas after attacks had become a threat to the lives of children, with devastating effects on their day to day life even after the war ended.

Destruction of Infrastructure

The most obvious ways in which conflict inflicted economic costs to the nation is through destruction of existing infrastructure such as bridges, telecommunication stations, district health posts, district police stations, village development committee buildings, etc.

Economic Burden on State

As mentioned above, one of the major impacts of the conflict is the destruction of the infrastructure, which automatically increases the economic burden on the nation. On the other hand, there has been adverse effect in development as more budget has been allocated for security costs, severely affecting the budget of the education, health, drinking water and local development sectors. As a result, development expenditure in the social sector is rapidly shrinking.

Source: UNIFEM, UNITED NATIONS Development Fund for Women, "A Rapid Scan-organisations Working on Women and Peace in Nepal", 2006
External link
United Nations Development Fund for Woman
UNIFEM
UNIFEM
Publication
RAOnline PDF Download RAOnline
Source: UNIFEM
A Rapid Scan
organisations Working on Women and Peace
in Nepal
Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Children
571 KB PDF-File
Source: UNICEF
Basic Education
UNICEF report: Situation Analysis on the Children and Women in Nepal 2006
1.4 MB PDF-File
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