Daily life in contested territories: How civilians navigate violence, risk and uncertainty

Although the dynamics of contestation vary, the human experience shares common threads across Cameroon, Iraq, and the Philippines. People describe a life shaped less by the headlines of conflict and more by the minutiae of everyday decisions - where to walk, whom to greet, which route to take, when to leave the house.

Four themes emerge from the report’s research:

1. Governance shapes risk

Whether through strict control, disruptive influence, or fragmented authority, governance affects nearly every aspect of life. In Iraq, the Islamic State group imposed a rigid system that touched everything from public services to personal behaviour. In Cameroon, armed groups enforce civil disobedience, curfews, and school closures. In Mindanao, governance is split between formal authorities and groups outside the peace process.

For civilians, these competing systems mean one thing: uncertainty.

2. Violence is strategic and ever-shifting

People our teams spoke to in communities described villages turning into battlegrounds without warning, checkpoints multiplying overnight, or targeted violence rising long after major clashes ended. The fear of being misidentified - as an informer, a sympathizer, or an enemy - often weighs as heavily as the violence itself.

3. Services become political

Education, healthcare, documentation, and livelihoods all become intertwined with the conflict. When public schools close, families need to pay for private education or remove their children from school. Health workers face threats from multiple sides. Without civil documentation, people cannot move safely or access services. Markets shrink, prices rise, and access to land or income becomes precarious.

These obstacles compound over time, leaving long-lasting social and economic scars.

4. Identity shapes exposure

Ethnic, religious, or clan identity influences what risks people face, who they trust, and whether they are perceived as aligned with one actor or another. In such environments, social cohesion - a vital source of protection - becomes strained or collapses.