Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
SARAH
(not her real name)
Eastern DRC
GENERAL GUIDANCE
Young people playing the game of El Golombiao in Colombia: Olga Luca Zuluaga/UNICEF
KHADIJA
Afghanistan
The work of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) with the Afghan
demining authority, MACCA, cleared Khadijas village of explosive
hazards. This has changed our lives, she says. We will be selfsufficient and our men will not need to leave the area to search for
work elsewhere.
Lessons learned
The wide area of devastation and the limited
resources of many humanitarian organisations made
local cooperation a necessity.
The legal and regulatory framework in place for
protection and the cluster system provided space for
local associations to engage with government and
humanitarian agencies.
Positive personal and institutional relations between
the focal points and international agencies helped
establish a common agenda and aided dialogue with
government counterparts.
Meeting of the Womens Forum of a community protection committee in eastern DRC: Eleanor Farmer/Oxfam
COMMUNITY PROTECTION
COMMITTEE MEMBER
South Kivu
DRC
The gap between the population and the authorities has narrowed:
things are better now; we work together. Arbitrary arrest has gone
down because people know the law.
Lessons learned
Focal points for childrens issues were nominated
bylocal people.
Simultaneous operation on both sides of the conflict
facilitated the flow of information, promoted a
consistent approach and ensured access for all.
Sound prior understanding of social arrangements,
administrative structures, historical issues (such
as contentious issues around birth registration
and citizenship) and of the conflict itself greatly
increased the extent to which elements of the
existing system could be used and supported.
Meeting of community members and security providers, Karamoja 2012: Lilu Thapa/Danish Refugee Council
UGANDAN PEOPLES
DEFENCE FORCE
REPRESENTATIVE
Uganda
You cant do much meaningful work if the people are against you.
Ifyou dont interact with the communities, you cant secure their
trust: we have to be accountable.
Thousands of civilians a year are killed or injured in conflict in Afghanistan. Photo: UN Photo/Eric Kanalstein
COMMUNITY
PROTECTION
COMMITTEE
MEMBER
Niangara
Eastern DRC
Destruction of a stockpile of anti-personnel mines by the Polisario Front, Western Sahara, 2007: Geneva Call
REPRESENTATIVE
OF A NON-STATE
ARMED GROUP
Workshop on
Improving the
Protection of
Women and Girls
during Armed
Conflict
2010
Lessons learned
Constructive engagement with armed groups can
be effective and can yield tangible benefits for the
protection of civilians: more than 50 non-state
armed groups have pledged to renounce the use
ofanti-personnel mines, for example, and global use
of these weapons by such groups has decreased
inthe past decade.
Contrary to a commonly held view, many such
groups are willing to accept external oversight: all
signatories to the deeds of commitment have met
their monitoring obligations, providing information
and reports to Geneva Call on their implementation
and allowing follow-up field missions.
Commitments by armed groups can positively
influence the policies both of states and of other
non-state groups. States may be encouraged to
sign a treaty because the opposing armed group
has made a similar commitment.