Concept Note - The first international follow-up conference to the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the

The conference will meet in a collaborative spirit to take stock of implementation and discuss progress, opportunities and challenges, and the future follow-up of the Declaration. [...] The conference will provide an arena for discussing the central commitments of the Declaration, and building a shared understanding of the priority areas and key issues in implementing the Declaration, including different regional experiences and approaches. [...] Another key aim is to foster cooperation between states and other participants to promote the awareness of the Declaration and to ensure that it gains more support and attention in the years to come. [...] Bearing in mind paragraph 4.7 of the Declaration, which highlights the potential for meetings to include the exchange and compilation of good policies and practices, we invite any State that is willing and able to do so to contribute information to the conference regarding their good policies and practices, so this information can be included in an annex to the chair’s summary. [...] Participants can register for the forum using the following link: Thematic Workshops, 24 April In addition to the Protection Forum, two thematic workshops will be convened after the official conference on Wednesday 24 April, on the topics of 1) military policies and practice and 2) humanitarian access and assistance.