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| Impact
of Armed Conflict on Women and Children |
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| Impact
of Armed Conflict on Women and Children |
UNIFEM
2006
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| Difficulties
faced by Citizens due to Armed Conflict |
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 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 |
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External
link |
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United
Nations Development Fund for Woman
UNIFEM
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UNIFEM |
| RAOnline |
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RAOnline |
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Source: UNICEF
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Basic
Education
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| UNICEF
report: Situation Analysis on the Children and Women in Nepal 2006 |
| 1.4
MB PDF-File |
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| more information |
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