Today s warfare often takes place in cities and villages, with civilians as the preferred targets, the propagation of terror as the premeditated tactic, and the physical elimination or mass displacement of certain categories of populations as the overarching strategy. The acts of warring parties in recent conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan bear testimony to this. Breaches of human rights and humanitarian law, including mutilation, rape, forced displacement, denial of the right to food and medicines, diversion of aid and attacks on medical personnel and hospitals are no longer inevitable by-products of war. They have become the means to achieve a strategic goal. As a result even low intensity conflicts generate enormous human suffering.
Humanitarian needs are disproportionate to the scale of military conflict.
Not only are massive humanitarian needs now a feature of almost all conflicts, but the achievement of the United Nation s objectives in the areas of peace and security frequently depend upon implementation of such humanitarian tasks as delivery of food assistance to demobilized fighters and assistance in the return of refugees. In today s conflicts there are many dimensions that must be addressed comprehensively in a common effort by the entire United Nations system. The first category is comprised of operations that followed the conclusion of comprehensive peace settlements and where there is a high degree of political will to advance peace, both among the warring parties, and within the wider international community. The aftermath of a war, once a peace agreement has been reached, and the parties are genuinely committed to the process, represents the optimal environment for the collaboration of humanitarian agencies and peacekeeping forces. In Cambodia, for example, the United Nations operation commenced in November 1991 and lasted until September 1993 when a newly elected Parliament and a new coalition Government were installed.