Armed conflicts in the world today: The data

Beyond physically helping people caught up in war, our legal experts at the International Committee of the Red Cross analyse and classify wars. Why do we do this? Because recognizing a conflict under international law forms the basis of our confidential dialogue with warring parties and their legal obligations to protect civilians. So what does the data tell us?

Transcript:
About 130 armed conflicts are being fought around the world today.
This is double the number of armed conflicts 15 years ago.
Around 60 countries are caught up in these wars,
and the number of non-state armed groups is roughly double that amount.
Today’s wars are more complex than ever
as new conflicts erupt in countries already at war,
armed groups fracture, multiply, and form ever-shifting coalitions,
and countries often become entwined in proxy wars or conflicts far away.
Many of these wars are dragging on for decades, with multiple generations growing up in violence and danger.
Why does legally classifying wars matter?
Because once a situation is classified as an armed conflict, the laws of war apply: international humanitarian law.
And this means warring parties are legally obliged to limit suffering.
The International Committee of the Red Cross

Animation and Data Design: Apostrophe One