Protection of civilians in peace operations[PTP.2012.04E]
Systematic violence and mass atrocities against civilians increasingly occur in armed conflicts. Millions of individuals have lost their lives, while tens of millions more have been displaced from their homes. In war-torn societies, civilians – in particular women and children – have suffered from gross violations of human rights and political, psychological and economic repression that have become part of deliberate conflict strategies. In 1999, the UN Peacekeeping Operation in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was mandated “to afford protection to civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.” Today, the majority of the nearly 100,000 uniformed UN peacekeepers deployed worldwide operate under such a mandate.
The goal of the course is to improve the overall coherence and effectiveness of protection activities on the ground.
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Define the concept of protection in the context of UN peace operations – as distinct from other non-peacekeeping protection functions and actors;
- Describe UN institutional standards and expectations with regards to protection planning and execution of protection activities;
- Define the different roles and responsibilities of protection actors within a UN peace operation;
- Discuss best practices and lessons learned;
- Discuss challenges and dilemmas related to the prevention of sexual violence.
- Module 1: Overview of the protection of civilians
- Module 2: International legal dimension of the protection of civilians
- Module 3: Protection of civilians in the context of UN peacekeeping operations
- Module 4: Ensuring the protection of civilians
- Module 5: Prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence