As NATO nations celebrate the 70 year anniversary of the Alliance, CIVIC urges NATO leaders to address growing threats to human security, through placing the protection of civilians at the center of its military operations. A 25-year-old concept created by the United Nations1It was first used by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in their…
CIVIC started in 2003 when its founder Marla Ruzicka began going door to door in Iraq advocating for civilians that had been harmed during the conflict. Marla was killed in 2005 in an explosion in Baghdad, but her mission to protect and help civilians lives on today. In May 2019, Dropbox followed CIVIC team members…
This is the fourth piece in a series that CIVIC is publishing throughout 2019 to mark the 20th anniversary of the UN Security Council taking up the protection of civilians on its agenda. Follow along here, on Facebook, and on Twitter as we mark this important anniversary year. UN Member States are fast approaching the…
On May 22, 2019, CIVIC’s Executive Director, Federico Borello, spoke with Laurie Laird of Crosby-Volmer for Arise TV about the conflict in Nigeria and the country’s proposed policy on Protection of Civilians and Civilian Harm Mitigation: The conflict has already claimed more than 38,000 lives and increased activity by armed opposition groups –…
This is the third piece in a series that CIVIC is publishing throughout 2019 to mark the 20th anniversary of the UN Security Council taking up the protection of civilians on its agenda. Follow along here, on Facebook, and on Twitter as we mark this important anniversary year. Today is the International Day of UN Peacekeepers…
CIVIC, International Peace Institute (IPI) and the Permanent Missions of the Netherlands and Uruguay to the UN cohosted a policy forum on “Twenty Years of Protecting Civilians through UN Peacekeeping Operations: Successes, Challenges, and New Frontiers.” This side event is part of Protection of Civilians Week, which is taking place on the margins of the…
The following audio story is one piece in a collection on our VOICES blog focused on the gendered experience in conflict and how gender differences should factor into the protection of civilians. At CIVIC, we work to identify good practices and critical gaps in the effective protection of civilians by UN peacekeeping operations, and to promote…
CIVIC and 21 non-governmental organizations have issued a joint statement calling on members of the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, and all governments to strengthen protection for civilians caught in armed conflict. The statement comes in advance of a UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians, which will take place on…
It’s easy to see why counterinsurgency campaigns tread carefully around local bystanders. It’s no less important in larger-scale war. As the U.S. military shifts its focus from counterinsurgency to large-scale combat against near-peer competitors, the value of preventing civilian harm in the battle for “hearts and minds” has been largely displaced by an emphasis on the speed and decisiveness…