Improving Child Health in Post-Conflict Countries Can the World Bank Contribute?

At the beginning of the new Millennium, almost one third of the world’s population was living in countries that were at severe risk of, affected by, or emerging from armed conflicts. The characteristics of conflicts— violence, poverty, food insecurity, destruction of health and other vital infrastructure, large population displacements, and the breakdown of family units—are ideal conditions for disease and trauma to proliferate. Children are particularly vulnerable. This paper first analyzes the direct impact of conflict on the health of children and the indirect effects on health system capacity. Effective and proven interventions that can reduce the adverse health impacts of conflict on children are described. The paper then presents case studies of World Bank operations in four conflict-affected countries. While each case study has its own setting and experiences, some common lessons are extracted. The paper con-cludes by suggesting what the Bank can do to better address the health needs of children affected by conflict