2012.3.R7

Unarmed Civilian Protection

Status:

COMPLETED: Work on this Resolution was successfully completed in 2017.

Title of Resolution:

2012.3.R7: Unarmed Civilian Protection – Peace

WG-USA Resolves:

…to support and advocate for ‘unarmed civilian protection’ (UCP) as a non-violent technique for safeguarding civilians in situations of violence; and further, the WG-USA Advocacy Committee will formulate a Proposed Resolution for 2013 IFUW Triennial Conference to be approved by the Board, and will seek co-sponsorship from CFUW.

Plan of Action:

At this time there are no action items.

Supporting Statement:

UCP has been successfully used in places in the world where violence taking place harms civilians, especially women and children. Such harm may take the form of violence, killing, rape and kidnapping. Although in many instances, armed forces such as the United Nations Peacekeepers are in the area, they seldom gain the confidence of the civilians to protect them. Unarmed trained civilians living among the local people, gaining their trust as they are safeguarded and are trained in turn to protect themselves, has proven, in many situations, to be a successful alternative to meeting violence with more violence.

International and national bodies such as the United Nations Security Council and Country Missions, the UN Interagency Framework Team for Preventive Action, the United States Institute of Peace, and some members of the US House of Representatives have been briefed on UCP and are expressing enough interest in pursuing the concept further to the extent that in the near future a UN Resolution supportive of using UCP in some instances will be proposed.

To prepare both the members of WG-USA and IFUW, as well as the larger public, WG will develop a workshop on UCP for submission to the 2013 UN CSWNGO conference where the theme is “elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls”, and use a similar workshop for submission to the 2013 IFUW Triennial Conference. In both instances, WG-USA will seek co-sponsorship to share in this workshop.

Financial Implication for WG-USA:

At this time no cost is anticipated.

Suggested Resources: 

At this time there are no suggested resources.