Protection of Civilians

  • On Tuesday (14 March), the Security Council will hold a ministerial-level open debate on “Trafficking in persons in conflict situations: forced labour, slavery and other similar practices”, held under the Council agenda item “Maintenance of international peace and security”. The...

  • 27 September 2016

    Protection of Health Care in Armed Conflict

    What's in Blue

    Tomorrow (28 September), the Security Council will hold a briefing, followed by closed consultations, on the protection of health care in armed conflict. The focus of the discussion will be on the Secretary-General’s recommendations regarding measures to prevent attacks on...

  • September 2016

    Protection of Civilians

    Monthly Forecast

    In late September, the Council will hold a briefing, followed by consultations, on the Secretary-General’s recommendations regarding measures to prevent attacks on health care in armed conflict, as requested by resolution 2286 of 3 May. Briefers may include the Secretary-General and representatives of civil society, although this had yet to be confirmed at press time.

  • The informal expert group on the protection of civilians was formed in 2009 at the initiative of the UK, the penholder on the protection of civilians. The group, which continues to meet regularly in 2016, receives briefings from OCHA and asks questions of OCHA and other UN entities on relevant protection concerns prior to the mandate renewals of peace operations. While the expert group is not a formal subsidiary body of the Council, the idea for it grew out of a recommendation in the Secretary-General’s 2007 protection of civilians report, which called for establishing “a dedicated, expert-level working group to facilitate the systematic and sustained consideration and analysis of protection concerns, and to ensure consistent application of the aide-memoire for the consideration of issues pertaining to the protection of civilians”.

  • Tomorrow (10 June), the Security Council will hold a ministerial-level open debate on the protection of civilians in the context of peacekeeping operations. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic are expected to address...

  • June 2016

    Protection of Civilians

    Monthly Forecast

    In June, the Council will hold a ministerial-level open debate on the protection of civilians in the context of peacekeeping operations. Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French minister of foreign affairs and international development, will preside. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic and ICRC President Peter Maurer (via video teleconference) are expected to address the Council. It is possible that a high-level representative from the UN Children’s Fund will brief as well.  At press time, no immediate Council outcome was anticipated.

  • Tomorrow afternoon (6 May), Egypt, Security Council president and Arab Group representative, together with Angola, Malaysia, Senegal and Venezuela, has organised an Arria-formula meeting on the protection of the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The meeting,...

  • Tomorrow (3 May), the Security Council will hold a briefing and adopt a resolution on health care in armed conflict. Briefers will include the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Peter Maurer, the President of the ICRC; and Joanne Liu, the President...

  • May 2016

    Protection of Civilians

    Monthly Forecast

    In early May, the Security Council will hold a briefing on attacks on medical facilities and personnel in armed conflict as a part of its protection of civilians agenda. During the meeting, the Council is expected to adopt a resolution condemning attacks on health care workers and facilities and demanding compliance with international humanitarian law with regard to this issue.  While yet to be confirmed at press time, it appeared that briefers would include high-level representatives from the UN, the ICRC and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

  • Tomorrow morning (29 March), Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins (Angola) and Ambassador Román Oyarzun (Spain) will co-chair an Arria-formula meeting on food security, nutrition, and peace. Members are expected to discuss the interlinkages between food security and peace in the context...

  • 26 January 2016

    Arria-Formula Meeting on Missing Persons

    What's in Blue

    Tomorrow (27 January), the UK is planning to host an Arria-formula meeting open to UN member states, UN entities, civil society and the media, on the “The Global Challenge of Accounting for Missing Persons from Conflict, Human Rights Abuses, Disasters,...

  • 15 January 2016

    Open Debate: Protection of Civilians

    What's in Blue

    On Tuesday (19 January), the Security Council will hold an open debate on the protection of civilians, which will be chaired by José Luis Cancela, Uruguay’s Vice-Minister for External Relations. UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, International Committee of the Red...

  • January 2016

    Protection of Civilians

    Monthly Forecast

    In January, the Council is planning to hold an open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The debate is expected to focus on the Secretary-General’s June 2015 report on the protection of civilians and the recommendations in the June 2015 report of the High-Level Implementation Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) relevant to the protection of civilians. Although unclear at press time, a presidential statement could be a possible outcome.

  • On Wednesday (16 December), the US has organised a briefing on trafficking in persons in situations of conflict. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson will brief along with Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC)....

  • On Monday (14 December), Council members are scheduled to hold an Arria-formula meeting, co-hosted by Chile and Spain, on the responsibility to protect (RtoP) and non-state actors. The meeting is open to all member states, observer missions and civil society....