“There should be no mistake. Promoting the protection of civilians in armed conflict is no sideshow to the [Security] Council’s mandate for ensuring international peace and security; it is central to it. The ultimate aim of the Council’s work is to safeguard the security of the world’s people, not just the States in which they live. Clearly, faced with the disproportionate toll that modern conflict takes on civilians, the protection of individuals should be a primary consideration in the Council’s activities.”
More than 95 percent of our peacekeepers are currently deployed in 10 missions with a mandate to protect civilians.
Protecting civilians is one of the most pivotal and visible tasks in UN Peacekeeping, and often the yardstick by which our peacekeepers are judged.
But what does this really mean in practice?
There are three main activities by which we are protecting civilians: dialogue and engagement; physical protection; and creating a secure environment.
Though armed protection is often the most visible of these, our missions are actively engaged in unarmed protection strategies, such as engagement with local communities, the host government and regional partners, as well as coordinating with the entire UN system and partners such as UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, United Nations OCHA and United Nations Human Rights that have protection responsibilities.
Protecting civilians remains at the top of the peacekeeping agenda. Peacekeeping troops must be ready, willing and able to use all necessary means – up to and including the use of deadly force to prevent, pre-empt and respond to threats to civilians.
This is going to be one of the main topics of discussion at the second Chiefs of Defence conference this week where more than 100 top military officials from troop contributing countries are gathering in New York.
To learn more about the protection of civilians mandate in UN Peacekeeping, please go here:
Have you seen our latest film with Goodwill Ambassador @davidbeckham? David’s own tattoos were marks chosen to represent happy or important memories, but millions of children worldwide bear marks of violence that they have not chosen.
It’s everyone’s responsibility to speak out against violence and act now. Watch the film, share and help #ENDviolence for good. #nofilter #foreverychild #tattoo #davidbeckham #beckham #tattoos
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