By John Ramming Chappell and Ari Tolany Recent months have seen a flood of revelations concerning civilian harm resulting from U.S. military operations. The last U.S. airstrike of the war in Afghanistan, which killed ten civilians including an aid worker and seven children, was soon followed by news of U.S. operations in Syria targeting and endangering civilians. Reporting from The…
By Daniel Levine-Spound On November 30, 2021, the Congolese army (FARDC) and the Ugandan military (UPDF) launched joint operations in the Beni territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group that originated in Uganda but has operated in eastern Congo since the mid-nineties and is responsible for…
By Lauren Spink The United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan — known by its acronym UNMISS — has perhaps been most known for providing security to civilians inside protection of civilians (POC) sites in and around its bases. In October 2020, UNMISS began the process of re-designating the POC sites into camps for internally…
Du 28 au 29 septembre 2021, le Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), en partenariat avec le Ministre de la Défense du Niger et l’Army War College Nigeria, tiendra un atelier de deux jours à Niamey, Niger pour partager les bonnes pratiques et les leçons apprises pour améliorer la protection des civils par les forces…
From September 28-29, 2021, Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), in partnership with the Minister of Defense of Niger and the Army War College Nigeria, will be holding a two-day workshop in Niamey, Niger to share best practices and lessons learned to enhance the protection of civilians by security and defense forces in Africa. The…
By Sahr Muhammedally May 11, 2021 – Protecting civilians in urban operations is complex. Separating military targets from civilian populations is hard in any environment, but in urban areas, the density of the population, civilian objects – such as homes and schools, hospitals, electric power grids, and water sources – magnifies the challenges. Urban environments…
October 31, 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security. This resolution was the first of its kind to acknowledge that women are uniquely impacted by armed conflict and play an important role in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. This open letter, available in Arabic, English, French,…
The following article was written by guest author Simon Bagshaw, who is a Senior Policy Advisor on the protection of civilians in armed conflict with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The article was first published in Just Security. _____________ In his annual protection report to the United Nations Security Council, released this…
On 20 February 2020, CIVIC, along with 60 other organizations, issued a joint statement on the Trump Administration’s new landmine policy. The statement condemns the Administration’s decision to lift existing United States prohibitions against the use of landmines and urges the White House and Department of Defense (DOD) to reconsider and take steps to join…