DIPLOMATHON GLOBAL

COMMITTEE NAME: UNSC

AGENDA: Humanitarian Crisis and Protection of Civilians in Conflict Zones
Introduction
Protection for the civilian population is a basic element of humanitarian law: civilians and all
those not taking part in the fighting must on no account be attacked and must be spared and
protected. Despite this, the reality shows that civilian populations suffer most from the
consequences of armed violence. Civilians are not only increasingly directly caught up in the
violence, but control over the civilian population is often one of the things at stake in a conflict.
Today, the general lack of protection in crises affecting civilians caught up in armed conflict and
other situations of violence is due, not to an inadequate legal framework, but to poor
compliance.
In most wars, civilians pay the highest price. The United Nations estimates that 100 civilians die
in conflicts every day. Between 2001-2021, 387,000 civilians are thought to have lost their lives
as a direct result of hostilities in post-9/11 wars, and many more suffered from indirect effects
of warfare such as the destruction of critical infrastructure. In the first 100 days of intense
warfare in Ukraine, as the Russian Federation shifted from using indiscriminate weapons to
deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, 4,339 civilians were killed and 5,246
injured; these numbers do not include the presumably much higher civilian casualties that could
not be confirmed. After 100 days of fighting, almost 5 million Ukrainians became refugees in
Europe and over 7 million were internally displaced. Arbitrary killings, a lack of access to critical
infrastructure, and sexual violence have been the lived experience of many.
Protection to civilians
The host State government always has the primary responsibility for protecting the civilian
Population within its borders. This protection should come from State security (military, police,
And gendarmerie) and judicial structures. In situations of armed conflict, all parties to the
conflict, including non-State actors, are Responsible under international humanitarian law to
respect and protect the civilian population. When national authorities and parties to the
conflict, including non-State actors, are unable or Unwilling to meet these obligations, UN
peacekeeping operations, humanitarian organizations, And other protection actors are expected
to provide protection and defend the rights of the Affected civilian population. UN
peacekeeping operations with POC mandates are authorized by the Security Council to Support
or supplement the protection efforts of host State institutions. Multiple mission11Components
address the protection of civilians. The military and police components, along with Civilian
components such as civil affairs, human rights, political affairs, and others, have specific
Mandates regarding POC.
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Expanding the scope of humanitarian protection
The need to expand the scope of humanitarian protection arises directly from the changing
nature of war. Were civilians not terrorized into fleeing from their homes, issues relating to
internally displaced people would be less acute. Were regular forces fighting according to
standard rules of weaponry, the proliferation of unmarked antipersonnel landmines would be
less of a problem. Were children not being forcibly inducted into irregular armies and then
forced to commit unspeakably brutal acts, the minimum age and its enforcement would not
attract such attention.
The increasing involvement, over the past decades, of UN agencies and non-governmental
organizations in humanitarian operations has increased the number of humanitarian actors in
conflict situations. This in turn has affected the perceived scope of humanitarian protection
from one that is basically driven by international humanitarian law to one that is driven by the
many needs of specific groups of victims in specific circumstances. Children need caring adults;
terrified refugees need to be able to feel safe; people from diverse cultures seek respectful
space for religious practice; women in camps should not be forced into prostitution.
The humanitarian community has sought legal confirmation of this needs based expansion by
referring to several key human rights documents that it regards as relevant in conflict settings.
These include the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1979 Convention on
the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the 1984 Convention against
Torture, and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. The insistence that key provisions
of these documents do, indeed, apply in a state of conflict has produced a growing recognition
that just because people are trapped in war, they do not in any moral sense, and thus should
not legally, lose the protection that they could claim if they were living in a country at peace.
International humanitarian law remains the primary legal reference in conflicts. Nevertheless,
these developments in humanitarian practice and policy, and the new guidelines on internally
displaced peoples (which combine elements of human rights law with international
humanitarian law) show an encouraging convergence between these two basic ways of defining
protections for civilians in war.

Basic necessities for protecting civilians in conflict zones

1. Protecting civilians in conflict zones is crucial for upholding human rights and preventing
unnecessary suffering. This involves various measures such as:
2. International Humanitarian Law (IHL): Ensuring that parties to a conflict adhere to IHL,
which sets out rules to protect civilians and limit the methods and means of warfare.
3. Humanitarian Aid: Providing access to humanitarian organizations to deliver essential
aid, including food, water, and medical assistance, to civilians in need.
4. Safe Zones: Establishing safe areas or zones where civilians can seek refuge from
violence and receive protection.
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5. Peacekeeping Missions: Deploying UN peacekeeping forces to protect civilians and
maintain peace in conflict areas.
6. Diplomacy: Promoting diplomatic efforts to negotiate ceasefires and peace agreements
to reduce harm to civilians.
7. Accountability: Holding individuals and groups responsible for violations of international
law and crimes against civilians.
8. Civilian Evacuation: Facilitating the safe evacuation of civilians from conflict areas when
necessary.
9. Civil Society Engagement: Empowering local civil society organizations to advocate for
the rights and safety of civilians.
These measures, among others, aim to minimize the impact of conflicts on innocent civilians
and ensure their safety and well-being

UNSC ‘s recent approach

[Link] protection of civilians mandates for peacekeeping missions
The Security Council outlines the protection of civilians goals of UN peace operations in their
mandates. The first UN peace operation with an explicit protection of civilians mandate was in
Sierra Leone in 1999. Since then, there have been many more, including in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia, Haiti, Lebanon and elsewhere. The mandates have evolved
from reactive, narrow directives into expansive protection strategies, covering physical
protection, the protection of humanitarian aid, displaced people, and women and children, and
also promoting accountability, through support for truth, justice and reconciliation
commissions, special criminal tribunals or hybrid courts. These robust mandates were drawn
up, for example, for the Central African Republic (CAR), Darfur, DRC, Mali and South Sudan, with
activities backed by a protection toolkit outlining concrete actions to take.
2. More protection-focused resolutions
In the 20 years since the first protection of civilians resolution, 1265, was passed in 1999, the
Council’s work has centered around strengthening the protection of civilians architecture by
adopting a series of thematic resolutions, as well as integrating protection concerns into
country-specific resolutions. Thematic examples have ranged from holistic resolutions covering
the range of protection of civilians-related issues, to dedicated resolutions on the protection of
UN and humanitarian personnel, journalists, medical care, and food security in armed conflict.
3. UN sanctions imposed when protection of civilians flouted
Increasingly, over the past two decades, the Security Council has included protection-related
criteria in sanctions regimes. Sanctions may be linked to violations of international
humanitarian law or human rights, sexual violence, forced recruitment of children into armed
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forces, attacks against civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and schools, forced displacement
of civilians in conflict zones, and the obstruction of humanitarian assistance. For instance, sexual
and gender-based violence are criteria for sanctions in CAR, Libya, Somalia and South Sudan.
4. Better evidence collection on protection violations
In most of today’s conflicts, strong monitoring and reporting systems have been set up to
identify when human rights or international humanitarian law violations are taking place. This
means human rights violations are more closely monitored, as are civilian casualties, and
investigations carried out to follow up. The increased level of detail is helping to boost
compliance and has helped the Council be more specific about the performance and obligations
of Governments and warring parties.
5. Promoting accountability
Over the past 20 years we have seen important examples of accountability in action. For
instance, the Security Council created an international tribunal in Sierra Leone and
investigations into abuses in Sudan and CAR. It also referred several situations to the
International Criminal Court, including in Sudan and Libya. These efforts helped fight against
impunity by deterring, ending and remedying violations. In recent years, the Council has
increasingly focused on promoting national and regional justice, as well as local transitional
justice efforts, for example by supporting the operationalization of the special criminal court in
CAR.

NATO’s approach
NATO now has a unique opportunity to reiterate political commitment to the Protection of
Civilians, and to issue a strong mandate and guidance for implementation that will lead to
Protection being prioritized in NATO and national institutions. This should lead to member
countries and Alliance institutions prioritizing Protection in three key dimensions:
1. As a value-based imperative for an Alliance aiming to protect the Allied countries and
people;
2. As an indispensable component of effective strategy enabling the armed forces to
support political objectives while shielding civilians from the worst effects of conflict;
and
3. As a key component of a country’s resilience.
The political commitment, however, should be only the beginning of the road and a mandate for
implementation. On the practical side, there are a few key actions that NATO forces can
undertake to prepare themselves for potential hostilities on home turf, and emerging processes
that can help translate the political commitment into military procedures and assets. NATO has
an opportunity to flag them for implementation.
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Moderated Caucus Topics

1. Immediate action towards protecting civilians interests and safety during initial stage of
war
2. Ensuring parties involved should avoid the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
3. Reviewing the recent humanitarian impacts ( Russia- Ukraine conflict) and discussing the
solutions to support affected civilians
4. Analyzing and strengthening national commitments towards various humanitarian
support and building human friendly zones
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