The report, entitled Our world. Views from the field, offers a stark vision of the experiences, needs and hopes of people struggling under the impact of violence.

In the eight countries surveyed, nearly half the respondents (44%) had personal experience of conflict, while around two thirds (66%) had been affected in some way. Almost everyone in Haiti (98%), Lebanon (96%), and Afghanistan (96%) had suffered the wider consequences of armed violence and war.

The survey was carried out between February and April 2009, by a leading opinion research group, IPSOS. The group conducted interviews* with more than 4,000 people in Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Georgia, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia and the Philippines.

In these countries, which are affected or have recently been affected by armed conflict and violence, being uprooted from home, separated from loved ones and dealing with economic hardship are day-to-day realities.

Of the people surveyed who had experienced armed conflict, some striking findings emerge: in Liberia, nine in ten people (90%) have been driven from their homes. In Afghanistan, the figure is 76%, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo 58%. In Afghanistan, 61% had been separated from close family members, while 47% in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and over one in three (37%) in Haiti have suffered separation from a loved one.

For many, death or injury are the most extreme impacts of violence. Nearly half (45%) of people in Afghanistan and a quarter of people in DRC said that close family members had been killed in the fighting.

A lack of access to basic necessities and healthcare are further widespread concerns, particularly in Afghanistan and Haiti, where nearly two thirds of those directly affected by hostilities said there was a shortage of water, electricity and medical treatment.

The survey has been carried out to mark the 150th anniversary of the battle of Solferino, which led to the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863. Around 6,000 soldiers were killed and more than 30,000 wounded in this decisive battle for Italian unity waged between Franco-Sardinian forces and Austrian troops near the northern Italian village of Solferino. Only one civilian was reported to have died during the battle – a stark contrast to today when civilians bear the brunt of conflict.

The eight countries chosen for the survey are considered today's "Solferinos" as they illustrate pressing humanitarian issues related to armed conflict such as displacement, separation from relatives, and economic hardship.

"The results of this survey underscore the importance of the ICRC approach in listening to the fears, hopes and expectations of victims of conflict and armed violence and putting them at the centre of our humanitarian response," said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, ICRC Director of Operations.

Video Story

Afghanistan:

For decades, Afghanistan has been in a state of conflict. Past invasions and current fighting between armed groups and national and international forces have taken a heavy toll on the civilian population. More than half of the country is affected by war, with the worst fighting in the southern provinces.

Many health facilities have been damaged or destroyed, and access to medical care is severely limited. Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar is the sole referral hospital for the 3.7 million people who live in southern Afghanistan. Every month, it treats around 5000 outpatients and 2000 inpatients. Surgeons at the hospital have receive specialist training in war surgery from the ICRC to treat the many victims of bullet wounds, shelling, suicide attacks and military bombardments.

It took 20-year-old Abdul Wali five hours by taxi to get to Mirwais hospital for life saving treatment. He was hit by shrapnel when his village in Hellmand Province was bombarded from the air. Both legs were badly broken and he underwent surgery to save his foot.

The children's wards in Mirwais are overflowing with patients. Some have been injured in shelling or explosions, but many suffer the indirect consequences of conflict, including lack of access to health care, malnutrition and the disruption of vaccination programmes.

Democratic Republic of Congo:

DRC is still recovering from a 5 year war that claimed the lives of millions in the 1990's. Renewed fighting in August 2008 displaced 300,000 people in North Kivu in the east of the country.

The ICRC launched extensive emergency relief operations to assist people living near to the fighting and in areas where the displaced fled. Thousands of families became separated during the fighting. Many of the children ended up in orphanages, like the Covedec centre in Goma, run by a local pastor with support from the ICRC.

As well as providing assistance to orphanages, the ICRC traces and reunites unaccompanied children with their families. When the fighting broke out, 17-year-old Shukuru Ndagije lost contact with his relatives who had fled to Goma. He had been taken north by soldiers to work for them as a porter. He was found by the ICRC who brought him back to live with his aunt and uncle in the village of Rutshuru near Goma.

Haiti:

Between 2004 and 2007 Haiti was one of the most dangerous places in the world to live as a result of gang violence. Today the country is calmer, but it still remains the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.

Martissant, the sprawling slum perched on a mountainside overlooking the capital Port au Prince, is today the most violent place in Haiti, with gangs fighting for power across its five zones. In March 2008, the Haitian Red Cross set up an ambulance service run by its volunteers. It provides a lifeline to the sick and injured in the slum, who live far from the nearest hospital. The 80 volunteers, led by 23-year-old Jude Celloge, work around the clock, taking patients to the nearest emergency clinic, run by Médecins Sans Frontières. (Doctors Without Borders).

Editors notes:
Random probability sampling was used to ensure that the survey covered a broad cross-section of the general public in terms of gender, age, education, employment, religion, income and marital status.

SHOTLIST

Date, location: Afghanistan: Kunduz northern Afghanistan, October 2008 ; Kabul and Kandahar, March/April 2009 ; DRC: Goma, North Kivu, eastern DRC, April 2009, Haiti; Martissant, May 2009.
Production: Jan Powell, Claire Doole
Sound: English,
French, Kiswahli,
Copyrights: ICRC/BRC Access All
length: 10' 23"
ICRC ref: V F CR-F-01023-22

Afghanistan

00 00 ICRC aid distribution Khanabad district, Kunduz, Northern Afghanistan to
displaced and victims of drought.
00.38 IDP camp on outskirts of Kabul.
00 52 IDP building mud house. This man (sparkly hat) left Hellmand province and fled to Kabul with this family seeking safety.
01 14 Mirwais hospital. Minutes after a major suicide bomb attack in Kandahar town, ambulances arrive with casualties.
02 04 ICRC medical briefing showing X ray of patient Abdul Wali
02 13 Abdul Wali in ward – arrived previous night after 5 hour taxi ride from Hellmand province.
02 32 ICRC surgeon and local doctors examine his broken legs
02 42 Child blinded in an explosion, lost one hand and most of the other on trolley waiting for surgery
02 57 Several shots of children suffering from malnutrition, pneumonia and measles with their mothers


Democratic Republic of Congo

03 23 Aid distribution at Kirotshe refugee camp near Goma
03.50 Refugee camp in Buhimba, Goma
04.07 Covedac orphanage in Goma. Children playing
04.33 Reunion of 3 boys focussing on Shukuru Ndagije in Rutshuru, near Goma.
04.37 Synch: French. ICRC protection delegate Colline
"It took us 6 months to reunite the boys. One of the children (Shukuru) is going back
to his aunt and uncle as we can't find his parents. They are really happy to see him
again.
04 56 Shukuru Ndagije in the ICRC car (Kiswahili)
"I am very happy. In the coming days I would like to go back to school."
05 00 Ttravelling shots in the ICRC car
05 11 Shukuru's aunt Gaudencia Nzamfurundi, waiting for his return
05 16 Shurkuru's reunion with aunt and uncle
05 41 Synch: Gaudencia Nzamfurundi. (Kiswahili)
"I am extremely happy. I have never been so happy. I feel as if I have given birth
again."
05 48 cutaway of aunts hands

Haiti

05 53 GVS Martissant, shanty town overlooking the capital Port au Prince
06 13 Haitian Red Cross post
06 19 Jude Celloge and team in ambulance
06 37 Taking pregnant woman to clinic
06 55 MSF clinic Martissant

Archive Pictures

07 08 Battle of Solferino- still - picture
07 13 Signature of the original Geneva Convention in 1864 (Protection of wounded soldiers
on the battlefield)
07 19 First World War. Trenches. Cannons firing, tanks advancing.
07 30 Poland 1921 Typhus epidemic
07 44 Constantinople 1921. Russian refugees
08 06 Second World War. Prisoners of war
08 13 Signing ceremony of the four revised Geneva Conventions in 1949

08 20 Synch: Pierre Kraehenbuehl, ICRC Director of Operations

"There are striking differences between how civilians experience warfare today compared to 150 years ago at Solferino where the whole idea of the Red Cross emerged. At Solferino there were 40,000 dead and injured soldiers on the battlefield versus 1 civilian killed at that battle. Today it is a total reversal. 60% of Afghans interviewed say they have been directly affected by conflict over recent years. This is the primary change that we face."

08 52

"If one imagines that in the Democratic Republic of Congo it is not just one displacement that people have suffered over the recent 12, 15 to 18 months, at times people have been displaced 4 or 5, 6,7 times with again the loss of family members in the whole process. So it seems very clear from the perspective of the people that we interviewed for the report, that ranks amongst the most anxiety provoking experiences and fearful experiences of conflict. Something that humanitarian actors have to focus on very clearly."

09 27

"The primary difference that this report is going to make in the way in which ICRC works in zones of conflict and violence is first of all to reconfirm the importance of putting people at the very centre of our analysis and our response and not to approach them with our preconceived and standard setting ways of thinking, but actually taking their perspectives and enriching our analysis with that"

09 55 Cutaways
10 23 END