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Four children at the Protection of Civilians (POC) site of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)
Foto: J. C. McIlwaine / UN

Protection of Civilians. From Principle to Practice

Protection of Civilians: From Principle to Practice

Themes

  • Development policy
  • Foreign policy
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • South and Central America
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • International organizations
  • United Nations

The protection of civilians (PoC) became a central concern in the international community in the late 1990s, accompanying an upsurge in humanitarian action and peacekeeping. While considerable efforts have been made by the UN and the humanitarian community to integrate PoC in policies, it is less evident how the principle is operationalized and institutionalized in practices on the ground.

This project aims to ascertain the role and impact of contemporary policies and practices of PoC by exploring the research question: What is the role and impact of contemporary policies and practices of PoC?

We will answer this question by:

(1) Examining how the principle of PoC is operationalized on the ground by humanitarian, security, and other actors;

(2) Situating these practices through field-based analyses of the security situation of intended beneficiaries, including displaced persons and vulnerable groups (women, children and indigenous peoples);

(3) Ascertaining how the implementation of PoC programs affects and is experienced by these groups and the wider host communities; and

(4) Drawing lessons for how the efficiency and legitimacy of the studied PoC efforts might be improved in light of organizational, political and ethical preconditions.

Project Manager

Kristin Bergtora Sandvik
Senior researcher at PRIO and the Director of the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies

Participants

Ole Jacob Sending
Research Professor, Head of Center for Geopolitics
Benjamin de Carvalho
Research Professor
Niels Nagelhus Schia
Research Professor, Head of the Research group on security and defense, Head of NUPI's Research Centere on New Technology
Jon Harald Sande Lie
Research Professor

Themes

  • Development policy
  • Foreign policy
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • South and Central America
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • International organizations
  • United Nations

Project Manager

Kristin Bergtora Sandvik
Senior researcher at PRIO and the Director of the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies

Participants

Ole Jacob Sending
Research Professor, Head of Center for Geopolitics
Benjamin de Carvalho
Research Professor
Niels Nagelhus Schia
Research Professor, Head of the Research group on security and defense, Head of NUPI's Research Centere on New Technology
Jon Harald Sande Lie
Research Professor