https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / Recommendations RSS ← Back
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

Crossing boundaries in protecting civilians: mapping actors, insights and conceptual spaces

Close

Embed Video

Crossing boundaries in protecting civilians: mapping actors, insights and conceptual spaces

Crossing boundaries in protecting civilians: mapping actors, insights and conceptual spaces

10th August 2018

ARTICLE ENQUIRY      SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

Sponsored by

Protecting civilians in the midst of violent conflict and war is a core element of humanitarian action. Beyond displacement and threats to life, threats to civilians include deprivation of liberty, sexual and gender-based violence, and preventing access to life-saving assistance.

For humanitarians, protection is about ensuring safety from harm, coercion, violence or deprivation, whether by minimising or reducing the exposure to threat or by creating a safe environment. In practice, however, confusion reigns. Numerous reports about protection cite the lack of clarity regarding what constitutes protection, and who will carry it out and how. Moreover, understandings of protection differ among various actors engaged in protecting civilians in conflict, including peacekeepers, peacebuilders and human rights actors.

Advertisement

This paper aims to cross the invisible boundaries that characterise protection discourse and practice, particularly regarding ‘local’ protection. It explores the strengths and challenges of local protection, and identifies the intersections between different protection actors and protection approaches, particularly in terms of how they work in or with local populations. The product of a desk-based review of ‘grey’ and academic literature about protection, it is guided by four key questions:

How do local actors understand and implement protection?

Advertisement

How do boundaries and borders change protection, particularly local protection?

How do cognate fields incorporate or build upon local protection?

How might we more effectively operationalise local understandings of protection to achieve better outcomes? 

 

Full Report attached

 

Report by ODI

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE ARTICLE ENQUIRY

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now