Conflict trends – 2024
The ICRC classifies armed conflicts solely on the basis of facts and legal criteria established in international humanitarian law.
The trends obtained from this exercise are, for the ICRC, alarming. There are over 120 armed conflicts around the world, which involve over 60 states and 120 non-State armed groups. The ICRC has noted that the number of armed conflicts has steadily risen since the 1990s; worryingly, since the year 2000, the number of non-international armed conflicts has tripled from under 30 to around 100; the number of international armed conflicts is also on the rise. This upsurge is the result of several factors (many of them discussed in this paper): armed groups sometimes split into factions and emerge as new, independent groups; partnered operations result in conflicts involving coalitions; and places affected by conflict become fertile ground for the further proliferation of armed conflict. The ICRC’s largest operations take place in countries affected by armed conflicts; many of them have lasted decades.
Source : Icrc
