I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to the request contained in the statement by the President of the Security Council of 12 February 2013 (S/PRST/2013/2).
The present report, which is my eleventh on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, covers the period from November 2013 to May 2015. It reviews the state of the protection of civilians in key conflict-related crises, identifies existing and emerging protection challenges and highlights ongoing efforts to strengthen the protection of civilians. Finally, it provides recommendations for strengthening the protection of civilians in armed conflict and promoting a more consistent and systematic approach by the Security Council.
Over the past decade, the number of people in need of international humanitarian assistance has tripled. The overwhelming majority of those people are civilians affected by armed conflict or complex emergencies, which account for about 80 per cent of the crises requiring an international humanitarian response. Approximately 42 per cent of the world’s poor now live in conflict-affected and fragile States, and that figure is expected to rise to 62 per cent by 2030. Protecting those people from harm and preserving their dignity, in particular by upholding international law and seeking accountability for violations, should be at the very top of the international community’s agenda.
Yet shocking levels of brutality and casual disregard for human life and dignity have come to characterize most of today’s armed conflicts. Civilians are killed and maimed in targeted or indiscriminate attacks. They are tortured, taken hostage and disappeared, forcibly recruited into armed groups, displaced from their homes, separated from their families and denied access to the most basic necessities. Sexual and gender-based violence is widespread. Direct attacks on schools and hospitals have become common features of many armed conflicts. Humanitarian and health-care workers are deliberately targeted. In many conflicts, the most basic rules of international humanitarian law are routinely violated with little or no accountability. Impunity remains widespread across conflicts and fuels further violations.
The human cost of this dynamic is devastating. Displacement due to conflicts and violence has reached its highest level since the Second World War: an estimated 38 million people have been displaced within their own country and a further 13 million are refugees abroad. In 2014 alone, about 11 million people had to flee their homes and seek safety within their own country to escape attacks or for fear of being attacked. This is the equivalent of 30,000 people uprooted from their homes every day, with little hope of return. The average length of conflict-induced internal displacement is about 17 years. For many, displacement marks the beginning of a lifelong struggle for security and stability.
Upholding humanity is at the core of humanitarian action and of the Charter of the United Nations. Civilians caught in armed conflict are among the world’s most vulnerable. They have a right to be protected. Yet the commitment and the ability of the international community to protect civilians in conflict and preserve their dignity are being challenged at every turn. Over the past 16 years, the Security Council has established a robust normative framework on the protection of civilians, embodied in various resolutions and presidential statements and founded on the principles of international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law. The Council has also significantly strengthened the protection and human rights mandates of many United Nations peace operations. This has been bolstered by the regular updating of the aide-memoire for the consideration of issues pertaining to the protection of civilians and the establishment of the Council’s informal expert group on the protection of civilians. The establishment by the Council of thematic mandates on children and armed conflict and conflict-related sexual violence has been crucial in garnering political momentum and promoting responsive action on those issues. However, despite those improvements in the normative sphere, the task of protecting civilians on the ground has been more pronounced in its failures than its successes.
The five core challenges to the protection of civilians, outlined in my previous reports, continue to be highly relevant. First, we must strengthen compliance with international law by parties to conflict, in particular in the conduct of hostilities. A united Security Council has a critical role to play in this area. The lack of enforcement and continued violations have eroded international humanitarian and human rights law. Second, we must ensure more systematic engagement with non-State armed groups to press for their compliance with the law and their assurance of the protection of civilians and humanitarian access to people in need. Third, building on the progress to date, we must further strengthen the role of peacekeeping operations in the protection of civilians. Peacekeepers must be given the resources and capabilities necessary to fulfil these mandates while actively engaging national authorities in fulfilling their primary responsibility to protect civilians. Fourth, we need more concerted action from all relevant actors, including those with leverage over parties to conflict, to ensure rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to people in need of protection and assistance. Where parties to conflict withhold consent to relief operations on arbitrary grounds, there must be consequences. Fifth, there remains an overwhelming need to ensure that those who violate the law are held accountable for their actions. Anything less promotes a culture of impunity within which violations flourish. My previous reports include numerous recommendations to assist the Council, Member States and parties to conflict in meeting the challenges. Those recommendations warrant serious consideration and action. States have the primary responsibility for protecting civilians on their territory, and the ultimate aim of my recommendations is to reinforce, not replace, the responsibility of States.
We need to use the World Humanitarian Summit, to be held in 2016, to launch an ambitious agenda for change and measurably reduce violence and the impact of conflicts on civilians, with clear goals and targets. We also need to build on the work of the post-2015 process to truly ensure that “no one is left behind”, least of all the displaced and others affected by conflict. Clearly articulating our ambitions to reduce violence by 2030 and identifying concrete targets and indicators will promote measurability, dialogue and action in this critical area.
