U.N. conference: 1,500 fall victims to armed violence daily

Some 1,500 people fall victim to armed violence daily, a U.N.-backed ministerial conference said Monday as it called for bringing the dangerous spiral to an end. “Every day, about 1,500 people are killed either as a result of armed violence in armed conflicts or as a result of petty crime or organized crimes,” said Martin Dahinden, who heads the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Such violence not only destroys lives but also results in costs estimated to reach $160 billion a year, noted the authorities from Switzerland, which was co-organizer of the conference. Some 400 representatives from 80 countries are participating in the two-day meeting which is to examine progress made since signing the 2006 Geneva Declaration to cut armed violence significantly by 2015. Research released last week found that 526,000 people die a violent death every year, but only 55,000 lose their lives in a conflict or terrorism. Central America is the most violent region in the world, with El Salvador reporting the highest death rate due to armed violence, said the Global Burden of Armed Violence report by the Geneva Declaration.