1. Killing in Congo

Seven other African countries sucked in at height of war
Millions killed since 1998, mostly due to disease and malnutrition
Mortality estimates vary widely, from 3 to 5 million. 2004 study by International Rescue Committee puts toll at 3.8 million
Valuable natural resources and legacy of genocide in
neighbouring Rwanda still fuelling fighting in remote east Violence hinders humanitarian programmes in food security, health care, water and education
Some 3.3 million people now out of reach of aid groups, United Nations says

"The worst humanitarian tragedy since the Holocaust. Five million dead, and yet the neighbouring countries have gone unpunished as they drop in and out of the Congo to feed their greed. The greatest example on the planet of man's inhumanity to man."
John O'Shea, chief executive, GOAL

2. Nightmare in Uganda

• 30,000 children abducted by LRA and forced to serve as soldiers and sex slaves, according to United Nations
  
• Rebels also targeting wider Acholi population, the largest group in northern Uganda, from which rebels themselves come
  
• 1.8 million people - or 90 percent of Acholiland region - driven from their homes into squalid camps
  
• Up to 100,000 people killed since conflict began

   

  "One of the most incredible sights in the world is to see every night tens of thousands of Ugandan children flooding in from their rural homes to spend the night in towns and cities. They are seeking safety from being kidnapped by the LRA."
  Larry Thompson, senior advocate, Refugees International

  3. Sudan's deadly conflicts

  In Sudan's western Darfur region, attacks on black villagers by government-backed militia of Arab heritage have raised spectre of genocide

  

• 70,000 killed since March 2004 and up to 2 million displaced
• 4 million may soon need lifesaving aid, United Nations says

  In southern Sudan, Africa's longest-running civil war has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises

• Fragile peace deal after 21-year civil conflict
• 2 million killed and more than 5.5 million forced from their homes

  Simmering tensions in other areas such as Nuba mountains, Southern Blue Nile and Abyei risk flaring into Darfur-like conflicts

  "In nearly 40 years of travelling the world, I have not witnessed any crisis that so vividly combines the worst of everything - armed conflict, acts of extreme violence, great tides of desperate refugees, hunger and disease, combined with an unforgiving desert climate."
  Martin Bell, former journalist, British lawmaker and current UNICEF ambassador, on Darfur

  4. AIDS out of control

  Some 40 million living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, two-thirds in sub-Saharan Africa

  
  
  

• Thirty percent of adults in southern Africa infected and 14 million children orphaned by AIDS
• Explosive growth rates in China and India, the world's two most populous countries
• If prevalence rates in China, India and Indonesia climb to rates now seen in Thailand and Cambodia, the world's HIV-positive population would double
• 1.2 million infected in Eastern Europe, according to the International federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

   

  "HIV/AIDS has been prominent now for over 20 years, and though the progress in the developed world has been admirable, the developing world is being eaten alive by this disease. We have not yet seen the economic consequences of the perishing of generations of wage earners, nor the psychological and spiritual damage done to millions of children raised without parents."
  Pam Wilson, international relief coordinator, Operation Mercy

   

  5. West Africa on the edge

  Liberia, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone struggling for peace after years of brutal conflict

  
  
  

• Communities traumatised after wars that displaced hundreds of thousands, forced child soldiers to commit atrocities and desta bilised entire region
• Almost 400,000 Liberian refugees still to return home two years after the war, according to U.N. refugee body
• Ivory Coast threatening to implode as pro-government forces break 2003 ceasefire with rebels
• Half of Sierra Leone's population of 5 million displaced and 20,000 killed by war that ended in 2002

   

  "West Africa needs a long-term effort, both locally and from the international community, if we are not to see a return to the carnage of the years before."
  Maria Immonen, advocacy and communication, Lutheran World Federation

  6. Colombians uprooted

  Almost 3 million driven from their homes after four decades of conflict, giving Colombia the world's third-biggest displaced population

  
  
  

• Civilians caught up in fighting between armed militias and government troops, with situation exacerbated by drug wars and breakdown of law
• 35,000 people killed since start of the 1990s
  
  
  

  "Life for the displaced is extremely harsh, with most living in conditions of extreme poverty and struggling for access to sufficient food."
  James Morris, chief executive, World Food Programme

   

  7. Chechen conflict

  Tens of thousands killed and hundreds of thousands forced to flee home in a decade of conflict in Russia's breakaway republic

  
  

• War displaced 600,000 Chechens in total, according to Migration Policy Institute
• Some 210,000 Chechen refugees - more than 20 percent of population - yet to return to Chechnya, MPI says
• At least 18,000 Russian soldiers killed

  "The overall situation in the region is deteriorating. The authorities responsible in Russia are not addressing the human suffering and lack of security and level of trauma caused by the forces fighting in Chechnya."
  Anna Morck, project manager, Norwegian Refugee Council

  8. Strife in Haiti

  Political turmoil and lawlessness threatening food supplies, livelihoods and health services for hundreds of thousands in Western hemisphere's poorest country

  

• 55 percent of Haitians living on less than $1 a day, according to 2004 U.N. report
• 42 percent of children under five malnourished
• One in 10 Haitians projected to have HIV/AIDS by 2015
• Thousands died last hurricane season as extensive deforestation and soil erosion caused flooding and landslides

  "Haiti has so little, and with the political unrest and recent flooding, they have even less to help improve their lives. We've seen no coverage in the media of this crisis with such a focus on Iraq, and it's time to bring the world's attention back to what is happening there and how we can help."
  Brenna Kupferman, Deputy Director and Partnership Development, ActionAid

  9. Crisis in Nepal

  About 11,000 people killed in nine years of conflict between Maoist rebels and constitutional monarchy

  

• Between 100,000 and 200,000 people displaced and cut off from aid, United Nations says
• More than 40 percent of population live below poverty line and half of all children aged under five underweight, the world's highest such rate
• Seizure of absolute power by King Gyanendra in February 2005 seen inflaming the conflict

  "The conflict has had a big impact on economic and social activities throughout the whole country and displaced large numbers of people, destroying livelihoods."
  Ewa Eriksson, South Asia desk officer, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

  10. Infectious diseases

  
  Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds

• More than 40 percent of world's population at risk, with 90 per cent of deaths in sub-Saharan Africa
• 300-500 million malaria cases each year, killing more than a million annually
  
  
  
  

  
  Tuberculosis is leading cause of death among HIV-positive people

• TB kills about 2 million a year worldwide, including people also infected with HIV, according to WHO
• 8.8 million people contract TB annually, with 3.9 million new cases infectious
  
  
  

  
  
  Dengue kills 24,000 people each year and infects hundreds of thousands more

• Most dangerous to children and people with weakened immune systems
  
  
  
  "Despite international efforts, malaria mortality continues to rise as a result of poverty, weak health infrastructure, and in some countries, civil unrest. These deaths are easily preventable."
  Roy Probert, communications chief, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies