The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali has a new mandate. Weeks of negotiations between members of the UN Security Council concluded on June 29 with a reauthorization of the Mission. The renewal of MINUSMA’s mandate follows a series of tumultuous developments in Mali during the past six months. On the military front, France withdrew its longstanding…
As the war in Ukraine drags on, we continue to witness abuses against civilians and entire cities being razed to the ground. Elsewhere too, civilians are being slaughtered and starved with complete impunity such as in northern Ethiopia,or killed during security operations in Mali.Today, one-quarter of the world’s population lives in a conflict zone as…
By Vanja Kovac, CIVIC’s Gender Advisor The war in Ukraine and allegations of sexual violence by Russian troops have brought back to the forefront the issue of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). However, the history of CRSV is as old as war itself and attempts to stop and prevent it from happening have been mostly unsuccessful.…
Anders Fogh Rassmussen recently wrote: “The European Union regularly argues that its foreign policy is based on values, not just on short-term interests. If this is the case, we should stand up for these values.”1Hong Kong showed China is a threat to democracy. Now Europe must defend Taiwan, The Guardian, July 16, 2019, available at:…
The following video 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. Men, women, boys, and girls experience conflict differently. Despite this fact, talk of “protection of civilians” too often refers to “civilians” in a gender-blind way rather…
This week marks the 70th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. On the anniversary of this series of world-changing meetings, we invite you to pause with us and reflect on where the world stands 70 years later. To say that the transformative – and growing – set of agreements that emerged from the Conventions “matter”…
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…
Today marks the fourteenth anniversary of the tragic passing of our founder, Marla Ruzicka. Around the world, we remember Marla for her bravery, ambition, and compassion. In 2001, Marla began a personal mission to document civilian casualties caused by US forces in Afghanistan. She later expanded her focus to Iraq, bringing attention to the fact…
Our US Program Director, Dan Mahanty, along with Jenny McAvoy, the Director of Protection at InterAction, recently spoke with Intercross the Podcast to discuss the protection of civilians in partnered operations. National security and defense strategies, as well as trends in US military operations around the globe, reflect a preference for working by, with, and through…