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top 10 'forgotten' emergencies
1. Killing in Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo still smouldering after devastating 1998-2003
conflict known as "Africa's World War"
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
Eighteen-year insurgency in the north by cult-like rebel group known as
Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)

- 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
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