#ucdp

We thought long and hard about what to write at the end of the Second World War.

We once visited the Ossuaire in Verdun.

The Douaumont Ossuary (French Ossuaire de Douaumont) is a French national burial site for the remains of soldiers who could not be identified after the Battle of Verdun.

wikipedia

After the First World War, all nations were horrified by the atrocities they had committed and vowed: never again!

This vow did not last very long, and soon the next horrific catastrophe in human history arrived, greater, more cruel and more brutal than ever before.

And now, although the weapons are silent worldwide, locally they are not behaving as they always have.

Number of Deaths 2023

The horror is visible globally and locally, leading us to believe that we as humanity have learned nothing from the past and probably do not want to learn.

mod

We were truly shaken by the sight of so many unknown dead who had died for the pride and stupidity of a few.

If we focused more on peace, the world would be a different place.

mod

Which factors increase the risk for armed conflict and war? What circumstances make conflict resolution more likely to be successful? If work for peace is to bear fruit; these questions needs to be answered. Today, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) releases a new dataset which opens up new possibilities for the study of armed conflict. Using these data, useful findings relating to climate change and armed conflict have already been made.

Existing data on armed conflicts cover only individual countries or provide information only on a yearly basis. This has limited the extent to which the data can be used. One example is that such data do not permit studies of local issues of civil war. For this reason peace and conflict researchers have in recent years realized the necessity for more detailed data on armed conflict.

The dataset which is released today covers all armed conflicts in Africa from 1989 through 2010 and contains information on the precise date and place of individual instances (events) of armed violence. This allows for new research on the causes, dynamics, and resolution of armed conflict. Further, patterns and the geographic developments of conflicts can be analyzed using software for geographic information systems (GIS).