Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict

In the past fifty years, our world has been ravaged by violent conflicts that have claimed the lives of many millions of civilians and left tens of millions more permanently displaced. These civilians have been expelled from their homes, and are often denied access to life-saving food, medicine and shelter. Grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and blatant disrespect for the normative framework of humanity that has emerged over the past 50 years is common to many of these conflicts. Civilians have become the primary target of attack motivated by ethnic or religious hatred, political confrontation or simply ruthless pursuit of economic interests.

This stark picture has led the United Nations, the International Committee for the Red Cross, regional organizations and many other international agencies increasingly to dedicate greater attention to protecting civilians in ongoing armed conflicts. The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for the establishment of a "culture of protection" in his report of 30 March 2001 on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. "In such a culture, Governments would live up to their responsibilities, armed groups would respect the recognized rules of international humanitarian law, the private sector would be conscious of the impact of its engagement in crisis areas, and Member States and international organizations would display the necessary commitment to ensure decisive and rapid action in the face of crisis. The establishment of this culture will depend on the willingness of Member States not only to adopt some of the measures (outlined in the report) but also to deal with the reality of armed groups and other non-state actors in conflicts, and the role of civil society in moving from vulnerability to security and from war to peace."

On many occasions, the Secretary-General has emphasized that, "As human beings, we cannot be neutral, or at least have no right to be, when other human beings are suffering. Each of us...must do what he or she can to help those in need, even though it would be much safer and more comfortable to do nothing." In this spirit, humanitarian aid workers, United Nations peacekeepers and many others struggle daily, to provide protection to those distressed by war. Humanitarian personnel in particular, in many conflicts are at the forefront of this international effort, often without any military presence available and in imminent danger of their lives.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), together with its humanitarian partners in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on the ground, advocate for the accommodation of needs and the rights of civilians, particularly children, women, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. It strives to ensure that civilians everywhere will be afforded the basic human dignity each individual deserves.

At the same time international actors do not cease to remind States and their Governments of the fact that the primary responsibility for the protection of civilians rests with them and that international efforts can only be complementary to Governments own efforts in this respect. In the Millennium Declaration, the Member States of the organization therefore, pledged to "expand and strengthen the protection of civilians in complex emergencies."  Together we must move from words to deeds and intention to implementation, in protecting civilians in armed conflict.