Is Protection of Civilians Given Enough Priority?
Room V, Palais des Nations Please register here Over the past decades, violent conflicts have heavily affected the livelihoods of civilian populations: millions of individuals have lost their lives, while tens of millions more have been displaced from their homes and forced to seek refuge in neighboring countries. In war-torn societies, civilians (and in particular women and children) have suffered from gross violations of human rights: mass-killing, detention, torture and rape, forcible resettlements and a range of political, psychological and economic techniques of intimidation have become part of deliberate conflict strategies and systematically applied as methods of warfare. Against this backdrop, the United Nations, the International Committee for the Red Cross, regional and other international organizations have increasingly directed their efforts to protect civilians, both in conflict and post-conflict settings. In the framework of the United Nations, the concept of protection of civilians has been gradually included as a cross-cutting priority of the organization. Already in 1998, the UN Secretary-General’s Reports on the Situation of Africa identified the concept of protection of civilians in the situation of armed conflict as a “human imperative”. Mandates of peacekeeping and peace building operations have also progressively included protection of civilians as one of the missions’ implied goals and by-products. In 2005, the United Nations World Summit formalized protection of civilians in the framework of peacekeeping, designating it as a central pillar in the general structure of interventions. Despite this progress, a number of shortcomings still hinder full implementation of the principle of protection of civilians. In particular, the absence of political will to back up an already challenging mandate to protect civilians and the failure to provide involved agencies and organizations with all necessary means to meet their tasks, constitute serious challenges for the effective implementation of the mandate. Stemming from the above-mentioned limitations, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research on the occasion of the 48th Session of its Board of Trustees is pleased to host a panel discussion featuring selected members of the Board who will comment and provide insight on this topic. Provisional agenda (from 15.00 to 17.00) Facilitator Carlos Lopes, United Nations Assistant Secretary General, Executive Director, UNITAR Anne Kristin Sydnes, Former Minister of International Cooperation, Andrew Clapham, Professor of Public International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, and Director of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (TBC) Discussant Jacques Forster, Professor emeritus of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Bio profiles of the Panelists Radha Kumar Professor Radha Kumar, Director of the Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Carlos Lopes Dr. Carlos Lopes is United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Executive Director of UNITAR and Director of the UN Staff College. Prior to assuming this position in March 2007, Carlos Lopes was Assistant Secretary General and Director of Political Affairs in the Executive Office of the Secretary General. He served earlier with the United Nations Development Programme, occupying various positions, including Deputy Director of the Office of Evaluation and Strategic Planning, Director of the Bureau for Development Policy, Resident Representative in Anne Kristin Sydnes Ms. Sydnes is Director of International Programmes of the Norwegian Church Aid. Ms. Sydnes has been associated with Statoil ASA for a number of years, first as Vice-President / Director of Country Risk and Issues management (1998-2000) before becoming the Minister of International Development Cooperation of Norway from 2000 to 2001. She then was appointed Senior Advisor at Statoil ASA in its Department of Country Analysis and Social Responsibility (2002-2004). She then served as Senior Advisor to the United Nations Development Programme in its Division for Business Partnerships while on leave from Statoil (2004-2005). Prior to her current position, she was back to Statoil ASA to be its Senior Advisor in the Department of Country Analysis and Social Responsibility (2005-2007). Her present organizational commitments include being Deputy Chair of the Board of The Energy Farm AS; and, member of the representative board of the Norwegian HIV-Fund, a private foundation. Jacques Forster Mr. Jacques Forster is Professor emeritus of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID),
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