Enhancing the security of civilians in conflict

Civilians bear the brunt of most armed conflicts. Hostilities are increasingly waged in urban areas, causing civilian death and injury, destruction of homes and basic infrastructure, and disruption of essential services such as electricity, water and sanitation, and healthcare. Active fighting can prevent people from fleeing, and humanitarian organizations trying to respond risk being caught up in the fighting – and at times have been victims of direct attacks. Various humanitarian arrangements can be established to provide some security to civilians and to facilitate humanitarian response. This paper presents six: humanitarian notification arrangements, evacuations, humanitarian corridors, suspensions of hostilities, protected zones and no-fly zones. For each of these arrangements, the paper outlines relevant international law; identifies certain recurring operational challenges; and recommends good practice for enhancing the security of civilians in armed conflict. The concluding chapter makes recommendations applicable to all the arrangements. Humanitarian notification arrangements are a voluntary system whereby humanitarian organizations share information in a structured way with belligerents, on the location of facilities used for their operations, and their movements. Such arrangements assist belligerents to identify the notified facilities and movements, so that they can take them into account in military operations. Evacuations are arrangements to remove people from locations where they are insecure, either because they face risks from military operations or because they cannot access adequate food, water, and other basic goods and services. Humanitarian corridors facilitate the movement of civilians and other protected people and the delivery of humanitarian assistance. They are usually established during active hostilities when movements are particularly dangerous. Suspensions of hostilities – also referred to as ceasefires or pauses – are temporary cessations of active hostilities. They may be for a specific humanitarian purpose, or more general in nature. Protected zones are areas that host people who are not or are no longer taking a direct part in hostilities: civilians, wounded and sick fighters, and those taking care of them. No-fly zones are areas of airspace where most aircraft are prohibited from flying. They have been established by the United Nations Security Council on a small number of occasions to protect civilians from a party putting them at risk by air operations, and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Some of these arrangements are interconnected, and in practice need to be established in conjunction with one another. For an evacuation to take place safely, for instance, there also needs to be a safe route for people to travel, along with a suspension of hostilities. The arrangements discussed in the paper are not new. But there needs to be better understanding of what they are, what their implementation entails operationally, and how they interplay with the law. The paper is intended to assist the actors who have a role to play in implementation: parties to armed conflict, humanitarian organizations, third states involved in promoting compliance with international humanitarian law or as donors to humanitarian action, policymakers and the media. It also aims to contribute to a better-informed public debate by providing clarification on the different types of humanitarian arrangements, and also – importantly – what is required for these to provide security.