War has direct and severe impacts on the civilians. Direct effects are extensive losses during combat and a systematic demolition of essential facilities such as hospitals, drinking water systems and housing. This breeds humanitarian crises of high magnitude where survival becomes the most important battle facing people that lie in the line of war.
Mass displacement is bound to occur as there are millions of refugees and internally displaced persons. Buses and tents that are overcrowded impose a heavy burden on resources resulting in a harsh shortage of food, clean water, and medical assistance. Malnutrition and outbreak of preventable diseases become widespread and populations are forced into desperate levels of poverty and dependence as their traditional means of livelihood disappear.
It is highly traumatizing on the psychological level. Civilians are constantly under fear and witness all kinds of atrocities and die with great personal losses. This causes rampant PTSD, extreme anxiety, depression and deep sorrow. Children experience distortion to their development, and they are more subject to exploitation, and the psychological scars bleed generations.
Decades of damage to economies are crippled in war. Vital infrastructure is in shambles, the agricultural sector is shut down, and industries fail. National debt doubles and resources go into the military spending and reconstruction cost instead of development. This diversion keeps people in abject poverty and significantly debilitates the long-term recovery and development of society.
War destroys societies socially by dividing people along ethnic, religious or political differences. It destroys trust, propagates hatred that is deep-rooted and eliminates social cohesion. Crucial services such as education and justice systems are crippled or not functioning. Heightened crime rates, large-scale exploitation, sexual violence, and the proliferation of weapons create additional instabilities in the societies long after the expiry of hostilities.
Conclusion:
War causes massive and permanent destruction among the civilians. In addition to death and destruction, it leads to large-scale displacement, serious psychological trauma, a ruined economy as well as grave social fragmentation. The effects of these are passed on intergenerationally and do not recover. It takes enormous effort over a long period of time to rebuild broken lives and broken societies and this is evidence of the unacceptable human cost of war and the importance of prevention and protection of civilians.
