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Topics: Crises, Incident

Researchers used eye movement measurements, filming children’s eyes and using an algorithm to calculate where the child was looking.

Babies follow social cues despite trauma

Babies living as refugees have some of the same social skills as children with more secure home conditions. This is shown by a new study that researchers from Uppsala University have conducted in cooperation with colleagues in Uganda, Zimbabwe and Bhutan. Over 800 children participated in the study, making it one of the largest infant studies ever conducted using eye movement measurements.

UCDP: record number of armed conflicts in the world

UCDP: record number of armed conflicts in the world

Never before have there been so many armed conflicts across the globe. This has been shown by new statistics from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, UCDP, at Uppsala University. In 2023, the number of conflicts involving states totalled 59, the highest number ever since the data collection’s starting point in 1946. Previous peaks were seen in 2020 and 2022, each with 56 conflicts.

Professor Karen Brounéus, Department of Peace and Conflict Research. Photo: Chris Chau

Women vulnerable in peace processes

New research: Post-war peace processes are a dangerous period for women, who are forced to live close to men who committed serious abuse during the war, which can be stigmatising. Women safety is not a political priority after war. There is great potential for improvement, if the UN were to start making more space for women’s perspectives, writes peace- and conflict researchers in PLOS One.

Increased access to water a threat to nomadic livestock farmers

Increased access to water a threat to nomadic livestock farmers

Increasing access to water in extremely arid parts of sub-Saharan Africa can help nomadic livestock farmers in the short term. However, in the long run it may lead to serious consequences for their livelihoods. This is shown by new research from Uppsala University, published in Nature Climate Change.

UCDP: Number of deaths in armed conflicts has doubled

At least 237,000 people died in organised violence in 2022. A new report from UCDP at Uppsala University shows that this is a 97 per cent increase compared with the previous year, and the highest number since 1994. UCDP is the world’s main provider of data on organised violence. Its definition of armed conflict has become the global standard of how conflicts are systematically defined and studied

Wide income gaps lead to higher mortality rates during flood disasters

A new study led by researchers from Uppsala University shows a clear link between economic inequality and mortality during severe flood disasters. Countries with an uneven distribution of income had many times higher mortality rates compared to countries with more evenly distributed income levels. The results are published in the scientific journal Nature Sustainability.

Swimming pools of the rich make cities thirsty

Rich elites with large swimming pools and well-maintained lawns are leaving poorer communities without basic access to water in cities across the world. New research, led by Uppsala University, published in Nature Sustainability has found social inequalities are driving urban water crises more than environmental factors, such as climate change or the growth of urban populations.

Atmospheric circulation patterns contribute to extreme weather events

The sharp increase in heatwaves in southern Europe in recent years is not only due to the greenhouse effect. Climate change has made a particular type of atmospheric circulation pattern more common, and this has contributed to extreme weather and been the underlying cause of nine out of ten heat-related deaths. This is according to a new study by researchers from Uppsala University and CNRS.

PRESS INVITATION: Inauguration of the Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament

PRESS INVITATION: Inauguration of the Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament

Uppsala University is inaugurating the Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament, a national centre for global knowledge on disarmament issues. UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu will address the inauguration ceremony remotely, while speakers attending the event include Beatrice Fihn, ICAN, recipient of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

PTSD Coach Sweden has information about post-traumatic stress, simple exercises and measure the user’s post-traumatic stress over time.

Mobile app reduces post-traumatic stress

Support offered by a phone app can relieve post-traumatic stress and depression. A new study from Uppsala University’s National Centre for Disaster Psychiatry involving 179 patients shows that a dedicated PTSD app, PTSD Coach, helps adults suffering from mental health issues after traumatic events.

Downward trend broken in 2020 – fatalities in organised violence increase again

New data from Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), at Uppsala University, show that the total number of fatalities stemming from organised violence increased in 2020, after five consecutive years of falling numbers. Despite a substantial decrease in violence in the two biggest wars of the 2010s, Afghanistan and Syria, UCDP registered more than 80,100 deaths in organised violence in 2020.

Cecilia Wikström will chair the Alva Myrdal Centre's governing board. Photo: European Parliament

Chair and director appointed for Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament

Uppsala University has appointed Cecilia Wikström to chair the governing board of the University’s new knowledge centre for nuclear disarmament and Professor Erik Melander to be the centre’s director. Following these appointments, the Alva Myrdal Centre can start its activities.

Increasing levels of violence in Africa – peace researchers worried by recent trend

New data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), Uppsala University, shows that the number of fatalities in organised violence continues to decrease. The declared defeat of Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq has pushed the number of fatalities to its lowest level since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. However, peace researchers are worried about recent trends in Africa.

Lowest level of fatalities in organised violence in seven years

New data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), Uppsala University shows that in 2018 the number of fatalities in organised violence reached the lowest level in seven years. However, the large share of internationalised conflicts, to which external states contribute troops, worries researchers. These conflicts tend to be both bloodier and longer.

​Magma storage and eruptive behaviour at Bali volcano

A new study by researchers at Uppsala University and INGV, Italy, sheds light on magma storage under the currently active Agung volcano on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Magma at Agung is stored at both mantle (~20 km) and shallow crustal (~5 km) depths, which may be a potential cause for sudden pressure-driven eruptions in this densely populated part of the world. (Scientific Reports 180712)

UCDP: fatalities in organised violence still decreasing

​New data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), Uppsala University shows that the number of fatalities in organised violence decreased for the third consecutive year. In 2017, almost 90,000 deaths were recorded by UCDP, a decrease of 32% compared to the latest peak in 2014. The most significant drop took place in Syria.

Figure 1: Predicted risk of state-based armed conflict across Africa, June 2018

​First public forecasts from ViEWS, a political Violence Early-Warning System

The challenges of preventing, mitigating, and adapting to largescale political violence are daunting, particularly when violence escalates where it is not expected. With funding from the European Research Council, ViEWS: a political Violence Early-Warning System is developing a system that is rigorous, data-based, and publicly available to researchers and the international community.

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