The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) engages at a systems level to build understanding, commitment and leadership towards the protection of civilians living in conflict and displacement.
Rationale for NRC’s engagement
In a world where levels of violence and displacement are increasing at an alarming rate, the mechanisms to address threats to civilians, reduce their vulnerabilities to these threats, and support their coping capacities remain inadequate.
States have not yet shown a consistent commitment to addressing the risks faced by civilians in situations of conflict. This signals an erosion in their willingness to uphold and protect the universal application of the norms of international law.
The potential role of humanitarian actors in reducing risks to civilians also remains poorly understood – both as it relates to actions that can be taken as part of ongoing humanitarian programming, and considerations for particularly complex environments and sensitive protection modalities. Within the UN and humanitarian system, considerable progress is needed to fulfil the commitment to make protection central to humanitarian responses and to mobilise the humanitarian community to reduce protection risks.
To address these challenges, NRC engages at a systems level to build understanding, commitment and leadership towards the protection of civilians living in conflict and displacement. We encourage the humanitarian protection ecosystem to speak with one voice to prioritise the most pressing protection risks.
Our protection priorities
The current challenges and needs in the protection landscape are vast. NRC’s engagement for change revolves around several priority areas:
- More effective diplomacy and leadership to address risks faced by civilians in conflicts.
- Better collective understanding of sensitive protection of civilians (PoC) models and complex PoC environments.
- Strengthened action to promote compliance with international law and accountability for violations.
- Humanitarian responses that more effectively reduce protection risks arising from conflict and displacement.
- Greater coherence and effectiveness within the humanitarian protection ecosystem.
Rationale for NRC’s engagement
In a world where levels of violence and displacement are increasing at an alarming rate, the mechanisms to address threats to civilians, reduce their vulnerabilities to these threats, and support their coping capacities remain inadequate.
States have not yet shown a consistent commitment to addressing the risks faced by civilians in situations of conflict. This signals an erosion in their willingness to uphold and protect the universal application of the norms of international law.
The potential role of humanitarian actors in reducing risks to civilians also remains poorly understood – both as it relates to actions that can be taken as part of ongoing humanitarian programming, and considerations for particularly complex environments and sensitive protection modalities. Within the UN and humanitarian system, considerable progress is needed to fulfil the commitment to make protection central to humanitarian responses and to mobilise the humanitarian community to reduce protection risks.
To address these challenges, NRC engages at a systems level to build understanding, commitment and leadership towards the protection of civilians living in conflict and displacement. We encourage the humanitarian protection ecosystem to speak with one voice to prioritise the most pressing protection risks.
Our protection priorities
The current challenges and needs in the protection landscape are vast. NRC’s engagement for change revolves around several priority areas:
- More effective diplomacy and leadership to address risks faced by civilians in conflicts.
- Better collective understanding of sensitive protection of civilians (PoC) models and complex PoC environments.
- Strengthened action to promote compliance with international law and accountability for violations.
- Humanitarian responses that more effectively reduce protection risks arising from conflict and displacement.
- Greater coherence and effectiveness within the humanitarian protection ecosystem.
