Protection of Civilians

  • November 2011

    Protection of Civilians

    Monthly Forecast

    In November, the Council is scheduled to hold its biannual open debate on protection of civilians in armed conflict. The Secretary-General, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillayand Philip Spoerri, Director for International Law and Cooperation at the International Committee of the Red Cross, are expected to speak.

  • This is Security Council Report's fourth Cross-Cutting Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. Nine months have passed since our third report came out in late October 2010, but much has happened in the area of protection of civilians during this period. The crisis in Libya and the post-electoral violence in Côte d'Ivoire stand out as two of the most important protection challenges for the Security Council. But there were also continuing protection concerns in other situations such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Somalia and Sudan. Most recently, the situations in Syria and Yemen have caused growing concern among many Council members. The present report involves a change to our cycle of reporting. (Our previous cross-cutting reports were published every 12 months towards the end of the year.) The rationale for changing the cycle flows from the fact that our statistical analysis compares calendar years, so it seemed that an earlier publication date each year would make more sense and be more useful to our readers. (Our intention had also been to publish this report in time for the Security Council's open debate on protection of civilians in May. But unfortunately this became impossible when the date of the debate was moved forward at the last minute.) The result of this change in timing is that the present report covers less ground than our previous ones on this issue, although the statistical analysis still covers one full calendar year. In the future, we will be publishing a report every 12 months. Our next cross-cutting report on protection of civilians can therefore be expected in the first half of 2012.

  • On Tuesday 10 May the Council is scheduled to hold an open debate on protection of civilians in armed conflict. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy and Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic are expected to speak.

  • May 2011

    Protection of Civilians

    Monthly Forecast

    In May, the Council is scheduled to hold its biannual open debate on protection of civilians in armed conflict. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy and Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic are likely to speak.

  • The Informal Experts Group on Protection of Civilians met yesterday (Tuesday, 8 March) to discuss Afghanistan ahead of the renewal of UNAMA’s mandate. Council experts covering protection as well as the country-specific experts on Afghanistan attended the meeting. China, however,...

  • It seems possible that in February Council members will informally review the progress of the Council’s thematic work under the general rubric of protection. It is unclear whether this will lead to any decisions.

  • 17 February 2011

    Insights on Protection Issues

    What's in Blue

    Tomorrow, Council members will have informal consultations on three thematic areas on the Council’s agenda–protection of civilians, women, peace and security and children and armed conflict. This is the first time Council members will be considering these three areas together....

  • 25 January 2011

    Insights on Protection Issues

    What's in Blue

    There is talk that under the Brazilian presidency in February there will be consultations on how the Council can work more efficiently on protection issues. The aim appears to be to find ways of streamlining the Council’s work on these...

  • November 2010

    Protection of Civilians

    Monthly Forecast

    In November, the Council is expecting a report from the Secretary-General and is scheduled to hold its biannual open debate on protection of civilians in armed conflict.

  • This is SCR’s third Cross-Cutting Report on Protection of Civilians. It builds on our previous reports and offers a resource for systematically tracking the Security Council’s work on this issue. This 2010 report reviews developments at the thematic level (focusing on events of 2010) since our last cross-cutting report of October 2009 and offers a statistical analysis of Council action in country-specific situations in 2009 compared with the previous five years. (It also touches on important developments in 2010.) Two case studies are presented—on Chad and Somalia—offering a more in-depth view of the dilemmas the Council faces in addressing protection needs. There is also a section on special issues related to protection in the peacekeeping context. As always in SCR’s publications, some future possible options for the Council are outlined. The options section is not intended as an exhaustive list, but rather offers some suggestions. In the period covered by this report, protection of civilians has remained a major issue in the Council’s work. While there were perhaps fewer acute conflict-related crises than identified in our last report, the situation for civilians in Somalia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Chad in particular, but also elsewhere, remained serious or deteriorated.

  • July 2010

    Protection of Civilians

    Monthly Forecast

    The biannual open Council debate on protection of civilians initially expected in June is now scheduled for early July. It will feature a briefing by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes. As this will be Holmes’ last briefing on protection of civilians before leaving his post in July, he is expected to offer some reflections on his tenure.

  • November 2009

    Protection of Civilians

    Monthly Forecast

    In November the Council is expected to hold an open debate on protection of civilians in armed conflict. (It normally takes up this issue twice a year; the last debate was on 26 June.) The foreign minister of Austria, which holds the Council presidency for the month, is expected to chair the meeting.

  • Security Council Report published its first Cross-Cutting Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in October 2008. It provided background on relevant provisions of international humanitarian law and on Security Council involvement in the issue of protection of civilians starting in the 1990s. It also analysed the way that the Council had implemented its thematic decisions on protection of civilians in specific cases following the adoption of its first thematic decisions in 1999 through to the end of 2007 and examined protection issues in the context of implementation of UN peacekeeping mandates. This 2009 Cross-Cutting Report builds on this historical background and analysis and looks specifically at developments since the end of 2007, both at the thematic level and in country-specific situations. As this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Council’s first thematic decision on protection of civilians as well as the 60th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, there has clearly been greater focus on the Council’s role in relation to protection issues. Several ongoing and recent crises have also highlighted the wider implications of attacks against civilians for international peace and security. In addition to analysing recent Council action related to the protection of civilians agenda, including through case studies of the situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Gaza and Sri Lanka, and identifying key challenges, the present report suggests some possible future options for the Council. This and future annual cross-cutting reports on protection of civilians should enable stakeholders to begin to systematically track progress in the Council’s handling of this issue.

  • June 2009

    Protection of Civilians

    Monthly Forecast

    In June the Council will hold an open debate on protection of civilians in armed conflict. (It takes up this issue twice a year; the last debate was on 14 January.) At press time the Secretary-General’s seventh report on the issue was expected.

  • January 2009

    Protection of Civilians

    Monthly Forecast

    In January the Council will hold an open debate (delayed from November) on protection of civilians in armed conflict. It will most likely be preceded by an Arria formula meeting. (It is Council practice to take up this issue twice a year; the last debate was held in May 2008.)