ANNA-LINN PERSSON proposes that leadership and cooperation could be important inter-linked denominators for balancing the potential tensions and strengthening protection of civilians.
In a policy brief titled ‘Leadership and Cooperation to Strengthen Protection of Civilians’, published by the Challenges Forum, she sets out to address the following questions:
- What are some of the challenges that UN peace operations could face in protecting civilians?
- What could assist UN peace operations in meeting these challenges?
- How could Member States and the UN Secretariat support peace operations in meeting these challenges?
PERSSON identifies challenges that UN peace operations could face in protecting civilians, grouped in three potential tensions: principles and pragmatism; national and local support; and armed and unarmed strategies.
The UN policy on protection of civilians, and its addendum, include aspects on leadership and cooperation, and missions often have coordination mechanisms for protection of civilians.
Member States and the UN Secretariat could support UN peace operations in the effective implementation by appointing senior mission leaders, or assigning them mentors, who are experienced in balancing the potential tensions in protection of civilians.
Another source of support could be the deployment of POC advisers and other key mission personnel for protection of civilians strategically and locally.
Furthermore, Member States and the UN Secretariat could organize in-mission trainings and table top exercises on context-specific protection of civilians:
- understanding the protection of civilians concept and mandate and the political and legal frameworks in the specific context;
- developing a mission-specific mission-wide strategy on protection of civilians, aligned with other key strategic mission documents;
- ensuring coherence between different mission components, and an integrated approach with the UN country team;
- developing and maintaining dialogue and engagement with all relevant actors, drivers for and against protection; and
- connecting support to the national level with local concerns and capacities, including women, men, girls and boys, of protection of civilians.
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