Analyses such as those presented here clearly have functional uses for policy makers and internal and external actors, researchers and relief workers, and others.

It is always difficult to convey the gravity and pain contained in the experiences behind the numbers. Although we may speak of dozens killed in a particular incident or thousands over a span of time, it is of course individuals who die and are mourned. And no society considers itself civilised if it fails to give the dead the final dignity of recognition not as a mass, but as individuals.

Ultimately the one specific piece of information that needs recording most of all is the name of the individual who was killed. Despite our best efforts to glean this information whenever we can, only some 5% of deaths in the IBC database specify an identifiable individual. A sample showing the latest entries to this list is given below.1