Urban Services During Protracted Armed Conflict – A Call for a Better Approach to Assisting Affected People

This report seeks to stimulate the much-needed discussion on developing a better approach to assisting people in urban areas that have been affected by protracted armed conflict. It combines current research with over three decades of ICRC experience in urban areas, deriving information through focus groups and individual interviews as well as from in-depth studies on Iraq and Gaza.

At its most general level, this report seeks to increase awareness of the extent and nature of the impact of the deprivation of urban services during times of armed conflict, sometimes for decades in succession. More specifically, it calls for a move from traditional assistance paradigms to one that takes account of the longer-term realities and needs in urban areas affected by ongoing armed
conflict. It also gives the reasoning behind this call by explaining how the quality of essential urban services can deteriorate to a point of no return through a “vicious cycle” of accumulated direct and indirect impacts which pose a serious risk to people’s health and well-being and or lead to undue displacement. In suggesting a way forward, the report identifies what is required to best meet the challenge and to ensure the right response in the right place at the right time.