CIDA Photo: Roger LeMoyne

-- Southern Sudanese youth

Thousands of children are killed every year as a direct result of fighting - from knife wounds, bullets, bombs and landmines. But many more die from malnutrition and disease caused or made worse by armed conflict. Wars interrupt food supplies and destroy crops and farms. They also destroy health services, such as hospitals and clinics, as well as water and sanitation systems that are essential to good hygiene to prevent disease.

Many children die because their families can't provide the food and care they need to survive. Children who must leave their homes and end up in refugee camps face the greatest health risks and suffer the highest death rates. Because wars destroy hospitals and clinics, they disrupt vaccination campaigns, leaving children vulnerable to diseases that could be prevented. Sexual violence increases during conflicts, contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, which can have a devastating effect on children.

When there is a shortage of food, people must depend on food assistance from humanitarian groups and other countries. A good way to ensure that the food benefits children is to channel aid through women. If it is given to the men who traditionally control communities, it doesnt always get to the women and children who need it most; sometimes it is traded for weapons. For this reason, aid organizations are now working more and more with women in conflict areas to ensure that food is distributed fairly, and that people can become self-reliant again.

• Seven of the 10 countries with the highest death rates for children under five are affected by armed conflict.
• Since 1990, the number one cause of death among refugees and internally displaced persons has been common, preventable infectious diseases.
• Denying people access to health care or food supplies is a crime against humanity, according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

1. Ensuring that people can access health systems, clean water and adequate food during armed conflict. One way of doing this is to set up special ceasefires that will allow children to receive the aid and food that are their right.
2. Working with international aid agencies to ensure that different countries receive fair and equal food and medical aid during armed conflicts.
3. Ensuring that countries set aside the maximum resources possible for children, including health services, sanitation, food and water. This is the responsibility of States under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
4. Making the protection of women and children from sexual violence a higher priority in armed conflicts.

Refugees = a person who is forced to flee to another country
Internally Displaced Person (IDP) = a person who is forced to flee within their own country.
AIDS = AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It is a disease that destroys the human bodys immune system. This means that people with the disease lose the ability to fight off other diseases and infections, and can die as a result of common illnesses. AIDS is most commonly spread through unprotected sex, or by sharing needles for drugs.
HIV = HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV is the virus that scientists and doctors believe causes AIDS.