Why do we work on this?

The past century was the most violent in human history with many millions of people killed and injured in two world wars and many other major conflicts between nations and peoples around the globe. 

Since 1990, more than three million people have died in armed conflict; almost all of the deaths directly attributable to conflict have happened in developing countries (Source: UNDP, 2005).

As we begin the 21st Century, while the number and extent of major international wars has decreased, there has been an increasing number of armed conflicts within countries, often spilling across regions.

Violent conflict poses one of the greatest threats to human development, destroying lives and undermining efforts to eradicate poverty, as the majority of casualties in current wars are non-combatant civilians. 

At the same time, poverty and injustice can increase the risk of war and armed conflict, with wars more likely to be fought in countries that are poor and lack effective political and legal institutions.

World Vision has witnessed the devastating effects of violent conflict across the world and is committed to helping those affected. 

We focus our efforts especially on children who are often the most vulnerable to the ravages of conflict.  We recognise that young people are often victims, but can also be participants – either positively or negatively - in ending or sustaining violent conflict. 

World Vision seeks ways to encourage and support them to be a positive force for peace in their own communities and countries.

As well as providing humanitarian relief, we run specialised programmes to help the victims of war, such as child soldiers, and we advocate for policies that support for peace processes for resolving and preventing conflicts. 

Peace processes often fail because of lack of commitment from the key actors in the conflict situation and also because of lack of adequate support and participation by civil society. For this reason, we try to support members of civil society to increase their capacities and involvement in such peace processes. 

At regional and international levels, we work with partners at various levels to advocate for peace in our engagements with governments and international organisations, urging them to use their diplomatic influence and financial resources to support peace processes in developing countries and so-called “fragile states”.