Violent conflict, with its bloody assault on people and institutions and its invariably debilitating aftermath, is the epitome of ?development in reverse.? Sadly, as the many case studies in this book and other publications amply demonstrate, conflict and poverty are closely interwoven. Conflict blunts, and subsequently unravels, years of hard-won economic and social development. Recent research also shows us that development patterns?which worsen inequalities, deepen poverty, or slash at the ties that bind societies together?can themselves contribute to the likelihood of conflict and its haunting recurrence. One of the most devastating impacts of violent conflict is the damage it inflicts on education systems and the children and students they serve. More than two million children have died as a direct result of armed conflict over the last decade. At least six million children have been seriously injured or permanently disabled. Long after the guns stop firing, the lives of students and teachers continue to be imperiled by the discarded litter of war: landmines, unexploded shells, and the proliferation of assault rifles, guns, and ammunition. Some schools in Cambodia and Angola will be closed for years to come because they sit in the middle of a minefield, and whole villages have simply become ?no-go? areas.
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