Yet while questions about the precise relationship between security and development remain (Denney 2011; Diprose 2008), there is certainly at least anecdotal evidence demonstrating how insecurity undermines the achievement of certain MDGs (Nyuydine 200). For instance, Anatole Ayissi highlights how, in Liberia:
violence against women … has an adverse impact on the MDGs in at least two ways: first it affects MDG 3 (“promote gender equality and empower women”) and efforts to combat violence against women; second, it has a direct impact on food security, which is one of the targets of MDG 1 and a major problem in Liberia today. Women are the backbone of agriculture in Liberia: they account for more than half of the agricultural labour force and for more than 60% of the country’s agricultural production. The spread of assault and rape in rural areas, which is where farming takes place, forces women to flee to the relative safety of urban centres. Two direct consequences of such terrorization are a slump in agricultural production and increasing poverty among women (Ayissi 2008: 23).
Similarly, Dereje Wordofa explains how violence impedes progress towards MDG 2 on achieving universal primary education:
Violent conflict destroys education infrastructure, reduces spending on schools and teachers, and prevents children from attending classes. Schools are often targets for groups hostile to government because of their association with state authority. During the Mozambique civil war (1976-1992), almost half of primary schools had been closed or destroyed by 1989. Because of insecurity and instability, parents are reluctant to send their children to schools when there are security risks. Therefore, it becomes obvious that security and stability are fundamental to … achieving the MDGs (Wordofa 2010: 101).
On this basis then, it is clear that armed violence is at least an impediment to achieving the MDGs and may be an impediment to achieving broader development (although the latter has proved difficult to causally demonstrate) (Gilgen et al 2010: 4). Perhaps more importantly, there is also evidence that insecurity is a priority of the poor themselves. The World Bank’s Voice of the Poor