Conflict and violence New displacement in 2016 There were 6.9 million new internal displacements associated with conflict and violence in 2016, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East (see figure 1.3). This represents a 20 per cent decrease from 2015 estimates, due largely to fewer reported new displacements in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. That said, figures for new displacement by conflict still indicate an overall rising trend (see figure 1.4), with an annual average of 5.3 million new displacements a year since 2003, roughly 15,000 people forced to flee their homes every day. This correlates with findings that although the number of active conflicts has declined over the same period, those being fought became steadily more lethal from 2010 to 2014 and then slightly less so in 2015.5 The downturn over the last two years should not mask significant new internal displacement not only in the Middle East, but also in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria and Yemen, as well as that associated with violence perpetrated by drug gangs and other criminal groups in Central America (see figure 1.5).6 Figure 1.3: New displacements by conflict and violence by World Bank-defined region in 2016 Sub-Saharan Africa 38.0% - 2.6m Middle East and North Africa 30.7% - 2.1m TOTAL 6.9m Europe and Central Asia 4.5% - 0.3m East Asia and Pacific 4.6% - 0.3m Latin America and the Caribbean 6.3% - 0.4m South Asia 15.9% - 1.1m Source: IDMC, with World Bank data Figure 1.4: New displacements by conflict and violence, 2003 to 2016 Source: IDMC 12 GRID 2017