In 2016, it was revealed that there were only 10 countries in the world that could be considered completely devoid of conflict by the 10th annual Global Peace Index. It was a statistic that almost seemed inconceivable at first. How could so few places across the world be at complete peace? Nonetheless, when you delve further into the warped world of combat and bloodshed, it becomes evident that there are dozens of past and present global conflicts that are not taught in schools, that don't make the front cover of the newspapers and that many people simply have no idea exist. However, just because these incidents are not widely reported on, or thought important enough to be taught about in history classes, it doesn't mean that they are any less important. And it certainly doesn't mean that all of the innocent people affected by them are any less deserving of our support. So without further ado, let us take a few moments to educate ourselves about the global conflicts that are rarely talked about. African World War Today, the Democratic Republic of Congo is still recovering from a conflict known as "African World War", which led to the loss of up to six million lives. The vast country first disintegrated back in the 1960s during a painful independence struggle. But their troubles were not yet behind them; a foreign invasion from Rwanda, intended to fix the corrupt and inept government, in 1996 replaced President Mobutu Sésé Seko with rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila. However, Kabila brought about little change, expelling his Rwandan and Ugandan allies and causing the Second Congo War, a conflict that involved nine Africa countries and 25 armed groups. By 2008, the war and its aftermath had caused 5.4 million deaths, mainly through disease and starvation. People living in the country continue to struggle with corruption and unrest to this very day. The Darfur Genocide For roughly 15 years now, various African ethnic groups have been fighting in the Darfur region of Sudan against government forces and allied fighters. Their battles have culminated in what is named the Darfur genocide - the mass slaughter and rape of Darfuri men, women and children in Western Sudan. Hundreds of thousands of people have already died in the fighting and millions have been forced to flee their homes. The conflict has also increased tensions in neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic, as hundreds of thousands of refugees stream over the two countries’ borders to escape violence. The Kashmir conflict Everyone most likely knows there is unrest in Kashmir, but does anyone know exactly what it's about - and why it's still going on? The stunning region of snow-capped peaks nestled in the Himalayas sounds idyllic, but is far from it due to India and Pakistan fighting over the land since both countries gained independence in 1947. The two countries have fought three wars over Kashmir, including the Indo-Pakistani Wars of 1947 and 1965, as well as the Kargil War of 1999, but still, they can't agree and innocent civilians are left to endure endless human rights abuses and acts of terror like extrajudicial killing, rape, torture and enforced disappearances. [[heroimage||http://cdn.junglecreations.com/wp/junglecms/2018/03/kashmir-women-compressor.jpg||image]] The Yemen crisis The crisis in Yemen has been deemed "the worst humanitarian disaster in 50 years", and the war taking place has killed more than 10,000 people so far. So why do we all know hardly anything about it? The Arab world's poorest country has endured three years of war between Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed forces loyal to exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the conflict continues to have a devastating effect to this day, causing widespread food shortages that have left more than 17 million people starving and a cholera outbreak that is set to be the worst on record. The Karen conflict One of the world's longest-running civil wars, the Karen conflict first began decades ago - back in 1949 - and continues to this very day. The little-discussed dispute is centred on the Karen People, a number of individual Sino-Tibetan-speaking ethnic groups, who have been fighting for an independent Karen state for almost 70 years now. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of the Karen population, along with other ethnic groups, have been killed. The conflict has also caused many Karen to flee Burma to Thailand and over 200,000 have been displaced by it. In addition, the government of Myanmar are battling the Rohingyas, denying them citizenship, and raping and abusing their females, as they are Muslims and "illegal" immigrants from Bangladesh. The Nigerian Christian-Muslim battle A terrifying religious conflict has raged in Nigeria for decades now - but barely anyone is talking about it. The Christian-Muslim battle can be traced back to the 1950s. But today, religious violence is dominated by the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to impose Sharia law on the northern parts of the country. Fighting an armed rebellion against the Nigerian military, the Islamist terrorist group have taken thousands of lives in battles and massacres against Christians who they deem enemies of Islam. One of the most horrific instances of conflict in the country was in 2014, when Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from a boarding school in Chibok. More than 100 of these girls remain in captivity, their whereabouts unknown. Of course, these are only a few of the devastating conflicts currently taking place in the world. Tragically, there are millions more men and women out there isolated by violence and insecurity and struggling through daily life. Did you know that in modern war it’s more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier? Fortunately, though, you can help women survivors of war to see that they're not alone. Show solidarity by supporting Women for Women International, a nonprofit humanitarian organisation which helps marginalised women affected by conflict, and <a href="https://www.womenforwomen.org.uk/message">write a #MessagetoMySister</a>. Your personal message will be delivered directly to the women in their programme, showing your sister that she’s got an ally she’s never met.

These are the global conflicts that you were never taught about in school

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