Barcelona, Spain – At the 2025 Jan Tinbergen European Peace Science Conference, held at the University of Barcelona from June 16–18, VIEWS Senior Researcher Paola Vesco presented new findings on the compounding effects of armed conflict and flooding on food insecurity in Myanmar.
Together with co-authors Ida Rudolfsen and Thorsten Rogall, Vesco showed that the impacts of the devastating 2008 flood were significantly worsened in areas exposed to violence. Their analysis—combining satellite, survey, and conflict data—finds that exposure to both flooding and conflict correlates with considerable declines in child weight-for-age and height-for-age. The research highlights how peacebuilding measures, such as ceasefires and peacekeeping operations, may enhance the effectiveness of disaster response and resilience efforts.
The study underscores the need to account for compounding risks in humanitarian and development planning, especially in conflict-prone regions.
Browse a reduced version of the slides from Vesco’s presentation