IPI’s protection of civilians (POC) program, launched in December 2017, focuses on issues related to the protection of civilians in the context of UN peace operations. Through this program, IPI supports the UN Secretariat in analyzing the challenges facing peace operations mandated to protect civilians and adapting policy and practice to improve the delivery of POC mandates. Since 2021, IPI has been examining protection efforts beyond the Department for Peace Operations (DPO), including the role of special political missions in protection and priorities for the UN Agenda for Protection.
IPI provides a space to gather member states, UN officials from headquarters and field missions, and researchers to build a common understanding of POC in the context of UN peace operations and across the UN system. Through research, convening, and outreach activities, IPI’s POC project seeks to provide lessons learned from the field and support the Secretariat in analyzing the challenges facing the UN system in:
IPI has published numerous issue briefs and policy papers on specific POC challenges, policy issues, and country-specific situations. Topics of recent publications have included UN peacekeeping and protection of civilians from sexual and gender-based violence; policy, strategic, and operational priorities for the UN Agenda for Protection; EU, UN, and NATO approaches to POC; and fighters.
While the UN Security Council and member states have elevated the protection of civilians (POC) and the primacy of politics as two central pillars of UN peacekeeping, it is not always clear how missions are expected to pursue these two sets of priorities together. To discuss the relationship between these pillars, IPI together with the […]
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Environmental degradation, including degradation caused by climate change, armed conflict, or the illegal exploitation of resources, can be a catalyst for violence against civilians. While addressing environmental degradation goes well beyond the mandates of UN peacekeeping operations, missions are increasingly focusing on climate-related security risks, and several missions have environment and climate-related language in their […]
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While all UN multidimensional peacekeeping operations are mandated to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), the missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan, as well as in the Central African Republic, are also mandated to protect civilians from sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). While SGBV is often used […]
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In his 2020 Call to Action on Human Rights, UN Secretary-General António Guterres committed to developing an “Agenda for Protection.” The agenda provides an opportunity for the UN to reaffirm that the protection of crisis-affected populations is fundamental to its purpose and values. To be effective it should address the lessons learned from previous efforts […]
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The protection of civilians (POC) in armed conflict has become a core strategic objective for the United Nations system and for UN peace operations in particular. The UN, however, is not the sole actor engaged in POC. The European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), among other regional actors, have been developing their […]
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On March 10th, IPI together with the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN, and the French Ministry of the Armed Forces cohosted an open policy forum entitled “Human Rights and Protection by UN Peace Operations.”The session provided an opportunity to discuss the role of UN peacekeeping operations in protecting human […]
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Conventional arms control and disarmament efforts have historically been framed as a humanitarian cause to limit human suffering. However, activities with an arms control component have only featured to a limited extent within the protection of civilians (POC) mandates of United Nations peace operations. Both issues feature on the agenda of the UN Security Council, […]
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The concept and implementation of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) have evolved as DDR-related activities have increasingly occurred in environments where armed conflict is ongoing, no peace agreement has been signed, and armed groups designated as terrorist organizations (AGDTOs) are operating. In parallel, reintegration has increasingly been discussed in the UN counterterrorism architecture through the […]
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On September 14th, IPI together with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs cohosted a policy forum on “United Nations Special Political Missions (SPMs) and Protection: A Principled Approach for Research and Policymaking.” The session provided an opportunity to present and discuss IPI’s new policy paper that considers the need for increased analysis and operational roles […]
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United Nations peace operations are increasingly recognizing strategic communications as essential to implementing their mandates and managing expectations about what they can and cannot achieve. This has led them to ramp up their communications capabilities and shift their approach away from the traditional top-down, one-way model of communication. Nonetheless, missions continue to face obstacles in […]
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The International Peace Institute is an independent, international not-for-profit think tank dedicated to managing risk and building resilience to promote peace, security, and sustainable development. To achieve its purpose, IPI employs a mix of policy research, strategic analysis, publishing, and convening. With staff from around the world and a broad range of academic fields, IPI has offices facing United Nations headquarters in New York and an office in Manama.
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