War is one of the chief causes of poverty. It can completely undermine a country’s development prospects, destroying schools and hospitals and put agricultural land out of use for years to come. Multinational corporations are complicit in wars throughout the world, putting profit before people and often legitimising and fuelling the conflict.
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| Reuters/Gil Cohen Magen |
Fully 80% of the world's 20 poorest countries have suffered a major war in the past 15 years, and the human legacy continues long after. Nine of the 10 countries with the world’s highest child mortality rates have suffered from conflict in recent years.
Yet not everyone is made poorer by war. Many companies thrive off conflict, whether through supplying military hardware to armed forces or running mercenary armies on behalf of combatant states. Others fuel conflict through their operations in war zones, such as oil companies in volatile countries like Colombia and Iraq, or through their continued trade in goods such as blood diamonds. Others profit from financing the war effort.
Through War on Want's partners among grassroots organisations in Asia, Latin America and Africa, we aim to redress some of the damage that Western behaviour inflicts on the world. Aggressive corporate behaviour is not tolerated passively – it is resisted by a myriad of groups working their way out of poverty. These groups need our solidarity.
 |  | Getting Away With Murder:
Killings and human rights abuses by private armies in Iraq have dominated the headlines in recent months. Yet the UK government has failed to act, despite UK companies being some of the biggest players in the industry.
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 | | Fanning the Flames:
Our latest report exposes the British companies that are complicit in conflict around the world, and calls on the UK government to take action to bring them to account. |
 | | Hands Off Iraqi Oil:
For foreign oil companies the situation in Iraq offers a chance to take control of the country's oil. A law now being written could give companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon contracts to extract oil for a generation. Help us say Hands Off Iraqi Oil. |
 | | Corporate Mercenaries Homepage:
Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) sell security and military services at home and overseas. They are now in the corporate boardroom and becoming a ‘normal’ part of the military sector. |
 | | Making a Killing:
War on Want's Annual Conference 2005 examined the real role corporations play in war and conflict – and the human costs that result. |
 | | Stop Arming Israel:
Campaign calling for the British government to introduce an immediate embargo on weapons sales to Israel and arms purchases from Israel. |
 | | This campaign has been mounted with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of the campaign and all documents produced under it are the sole responsibility of War on Want and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union. |
