Abstract
Over the last twenty years, the compilation of morbidity and mortality figures has become standard practice in aid organizations. Morbidity and mortality surveys are usually carried out for practical reasons. Measuring the prevalence of malnutrition or measles after an immunization campaign, assessing an infant mortality rate, locating an outbreak of intestinal infections all help to decide priorities and ensure the impact of a health strategy. However, these figures are also communication tools used to draw the media's attention to certain situations in order to put them on the agenda of political decision-makers. Statistical data are now at the heart of political controversies. Recent debates on the conflicts in Darfur (Sudan), Kivu (DRVC) and Iraq suggest that the more this quantitative turn is accentuated, the more it lends itself to political and legal manipulation. This talk will examine the relationship between the analysis and presentation of conflict mortality data, on the one hand, and, on the other, the meaning of such data in the various forums in which it is presented.
