Unpacking the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: Case-Studies from the Field

Most of today’s armed conflicts are characterized by the presence of a myriad of parties, both state and non-state entities, and produce multifaceted effects often with an impact at the regional and global levels.

Especially in urban environments, civilians and civilian infrastructure are harmed, often with long-term consequences including failing infrastructure and public services, rising levels of crime, a breakdown in the rule of law, and weakened State authority.
Moreover, all parties to conflict, including some States and the multiple and fractured Non-State-armed groups controlling or disputing territory, disregard the basic principles of International Humanitarian Law, with profound effects on civilians.

Faced with these increasingly complex, protracted and multifaceted armed conflicts, the humanitarian actors made considerable efforts to integrate the protection of civilians (PoC) in policies and to put it at the center of humanitarian response; yet operationalizing it in practice on the ground remain challenging.

As highlighted by the UN Secretary-General in his latest report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, ‘’what is needed urgently now from all Member States and all parties to armed conflict is the political will to respect the rules and implement good practices’’ to strengthen the protection of civilians.

This event aims to unpack complementarity of action and contributions to strengthen the protection of civilians in armed conflict. Experiences and good practices will be shared by field Protection Clusters and operational partners on engagement with NSAGs, community-based approaches to protection in armed conflict and working with peacekeeping operations.

The event is a follow-up to last year’s GPC Forum webinar on ‘’Strengthening the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: the role of Protection Clusters and Operational Actors’’ which reflected on the practical and operational challenges, opportunities and constraints for Protection Clusters to address issues pertaining to the protection of civilians in armed conflict and opportunities to join up to and leverage global frameworks to reinforce their efforts.