“Forgotten Conflicts”: From Africa to Haiti… 5 Crises Overlooked in 2024

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Overshadowed by other major wars, these crises were forced into the shadows in 2024. They occasionally resurface in the news due to their severity but quickly lose media attention.

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Alongside the two wars that dominated headlines in 2024 – in the Middle East and Ukraine – many conflicts persist worldwide, receiving far less media coverage. Here are five such crises identified by Agence France-Presse:

Sudan

Since April 2023, Sudan has been witnessing a war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.

The conflict, described by the UN as one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history, has killed between 20,000 and 150,000 people and displaced an estimated 11 million.

Adding to the ongoing crisis is the looming threat of famine, with 26 million people – nearly half the population – in continuous need of food aid.

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The warring parties have repeatedly been accused of war crimes, including deliberately targeting civilians. In late October, the UN highlighted the “staggering” scale of sexual violence, reporting widespread cases of rape, including gang rapes.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Since late 2021, eastern DRC has faced a resurgence of the M23 movement, a rebel group that has seized vast territories following clashes with Congolese armed forces and allied militias.

This rebellion has worsened a 30-year-long humanitarian crisis in North Kivu, a mineral-rich region where hundreds of thousands of displaced people live in makeshift shelters near Goma, the provincial capital.

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Although a ceasefire agreement between Kigali and Kinshasa stabilized the frontlines in August, the M23 resumed its offensives in late October, capturing several positions. Despite this, the two nations maintain dialogue, with their foreign ministers meeting in early November to reaffirm the need to uphold the ceasefire.

African Sahel

Several Sahelian countries face relentless terrorist attacks.

Since 2009, Boko Haram, one of the region’s main armed groups, has waged an insurgency in Nigeria, resulting in approximately 40,000 deaths and displacing over 2 million people. Its violence has since spread to neighboring countries.

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In Chad, Boko Haram or its splinter factions continue attacks in the Lake Chad region.

In late October, the Chadian army launched a military operation aimed at “neutralizing Boko Haram’s striking force.”

In the “Three Borders” region, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger confront terrorists linked to ISIS and al-Qaeda.

Governed by military regimes following coups between 2020 and 2023, these countries expelled French forces and formed a regional alliance to counter the terrorist threat.

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However, the offensives have so far failed, resulting in approximately 7,000 civilian and military deaths in Burkina Faso, over 1,500 in Niger, and over 3,600 in Mali since January, according to the NGO ACLED, amid growing challenges in obtaining information.

Haiti

Haiti has suffered from chronic political instability for decades, worsened by an escalation in gang violence, entrenched in the Caribbean state since February.

Gangs now control 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

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The UN has recorded 4,544 deaths from violence since the beginning of the year, warning that the actual numbers may be higher.

The violence often targets children, involving atrocities such as mutilations, stonings, beheadings, immolations, or live burials.

These horrors have forced over 700,000 people, half of them children, to flee their homes, according to the International Organization for Migration.

With support from the UN and Washington, a multinational police support mission led by Kenya began deploying this summer.

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Myanmar

Since the 2021 military coup against a democratically elected government, Myanmar has plunged into a bloody civil war.

In 2023, the conflict intensified, killing over 5,300 civilians and displacing more than 3.3 million, according to the UN.

In recent months, insurgents have attacked Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, using missiles and drones.

In late October, they seized control of a strategic road linking Myanmar to China, its primary trade partner.

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This blockade deprives the junta of significant customs revenue and threatens its bases in the central plains.

Amid these setbacks, the military council invited armed groups for peace talks last September, an offer that has so far gone unanswered.

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