This paper was prepared as a background document for a workshop on Development in Conflict, held in Birmingham, UK, convened by ACORD, Birmingham University’s School of Public Policy, and Responding to Conflict. The growing incidence of armed conflicts in Africa and Eastern Europe, and their devastating impact, has placed this issue at the forefront of policy debates on aid and development. The Birmingham workshop brought together development practitioners and policy analysts to share experience and consider the adaptations that organisations and institutions need to make when working in situations of armed conflict. Illustrated with extracts from case studies on the work of ACORD in Africa, the paper draws together current thinking on the causes and impacts of conflict, and suggests a series of questions which aid organizations working in situations of armed conflict need to address.