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…
Protecting civilians is too often a “nice-to-have” and not a “must-have” part of militaries’ missions. This is fundamentally wrong-minded
Disability regularly intersects with other vulnerabilities in conflict like gender and age to place persons with disabilities at significantly greater risk of harm compared to other civilians. Given that persons with disabilities are “invisible” in peacetime, it is therefore essential to ensure their inclusion in civilian protection processes and incumbent on governments and humanitarian organizations to recognize and address their needs during conflict.
Fighting in densely populated areas poses a number of significant challenges to forces trying to adhere to the rules that govern warfare. Even assuming that international humanitarian law (IHL) is respected, the cumulative effect of urban warfare inevitably leads to human suffering. Nowhere is the tension between the military necessity to defeat an enemy and…
By Kevin Gustafson, Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) Colombia’s half-century-long conflict is rapidly coming to close. On Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016, the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), released the final text of a peace agreement four years in the making, and President Juan Manuel Santos has called…
Article by Nicolette Boehland, Harvard Law Fellow at CIVIC. “What I think is that there is no line at all … Civilians can turn into fighters at any time. Anybody can change from a fighter to a civilian, all in one day, all in one moment.” I remember pausing when I heard this assertion. It…
Yemenis must have sighed with relief when, on April 21, the Saudi government announced they would end their air campaign against the Houthi rebels. In a bit more than a month, the strikes have reportedly killed 1,000 civilians and injured many thousands more. Facing mounting criticism of the high civilian toll, Saudis abruptly renamed the…
Sarah Holewinski presenting on Thursday, May 23, 10.30 AM It is an honor to present to this audience today on protection of civilians. My sincere thanks to the Government of Norway for grappling with this issue across years and continents, and to the organizing team led by Hilde Salvesen. My organization—Center for Civilians in Conflict—works…