As The Russia-Ukraine War Rages On, These Countries Are Also Suffering From Armed Conflict And Deserve Attention

When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine 15 months ago, it shook the West. There was an outpouring of support for Russia’s western neighbor because, to the U.S. and its allies, Ukraine was a country that shared similar values, ideologies and politics.

Television stations and social media outlets were immediately flooded with coverage of the war, as reporters raced to show images of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees lining the streets to enter Poland, a NATO country. European and North American governments also opened their borders to Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s bombs and condemned the Russian leader for his actions.

The truth, however, is that wars have raged across the globe for quite some time. Below is Concern Worldwide's list of several ongoing armed conflicts that deserve more attention.

Ongoing Global Conflicts 

The Afghanistan conflict, which began in 1978 and involved the U.S. between 2001 and 2021, has seen between 1.5 and 2.5 million casualties. It’s estimated that over 28 million Afghans have required humanitarian assistance.

In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, the humanitarian crisis has worsened amid renewed fighting between Islamic militant groups and Burkina Faso’s armed forces. The crisis escalated last year after the military deposed Burkina Faso’s President Roch Kabore in January — only for newly installed President Paul-Henri Damiba to be deposed himself in September. 

Civil war in the Central African Republic has been ongoing since 2012 and has led to thousands of casualties. The war involving the government and various armed groups has spilled into neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan, which are both suffering internal conflicts themselves. 

In the DRC, over 26.4 million people require humanitarian assistance. The war in the DRC has been ongoing since the late 1990s and is a continued fallout from Belgium’s colonization of the country.

For over three decades, war has raged in Somalia, leaving 7.8 million people in need of humanitarian aid. The conflict has been exacerbated by a severe drought.

Since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has experienced ongoing civil conflict and over 4 million people have been displaced. 

In Sudan, about one-third of the country’s population is estimated to require humanitarian assistance after the civilian-military coalition charged with transitioning Sudan to a democracy took full control of the government in 2021. 

Syria has one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with over 11.5 million Syrians displaced. The civil war between the government, led by President Bashar al-Assad, and pro-democratic insurgents began in March 2011. The conflict has seen intervention by other countries, including the U.S. and Russia.

Other ongoing conflicts include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria and the civil war in Yemen. 

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