To be added to our mailing list, please fill out the available form . In 1965, there were 10 major wars under way. Although the number of major wars dropped to 25 in 1997, the millennium will nevertheless end with much of the world consumed in armed conflict or cultivating an uncertain peace.
Most victims are civilians, a feature that distinguishes modern conflicts.
During World War I, civilians made up fewer than 5 percent of all casualties. Developing countries in East Asia, Central America, and Africa have been consumed in civil war in recent years, as have the more industrialized countries of the former Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Soviet Union. Frequently accompanied by genocide, terror, and systematic rape, these conflicts impose unique hardships on these countries. It has far less experience bridging the gap between short-term humanitarian assistance and the longer term agenda of sustainable development. One of the more important lessons to be learned from OTI's work is that gender plays a crucial, often defining role in the transition from war to peaceful development.