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(Resolution 1270) to “afford pro- ople); early warning strategy and
tection to civilians under imminent response mechanisms; mainte-
threat of physical violence”. Cur- nance of public safety; provision
rently, over 90% of peacekeepers of humanitarian assistance and
are mandated to protect civilians, promotion of dialogue among va-
including against conflict-related rious Sudanese groups, as well as
sexual violence. The vast majority conduct of thousands of monthly
of UN troops and police serve now patrols of long and short dura-
in Missions with tasks that prioriti- tion, air and riverine monitoring.
ze protection as a core obligation. In almost all operations, UN hel-
The first operation which received mets and blue berets face major
the full-fledged protection manda- challenges and constraints, parti-
te was - accordingly to specialists – cularly in this very sensitive area.
was the UN Mission in Central Afri- Even large peacekeeping Missions
can Republic (MINURCAT) in 2007. deploy relatively few personnel
As in many similar situations this compared to the size of the terri-
activity is conducted in conjunction tory and population. MONUSCO
with protection of human rights, (UN Operation in the Congo), for
assistance in the establishment of example, has only 17,000 troops
the rule of law, political engage- and police, yet operates in a coun-
ment, disarmament and reintegra- try with a population of more than
tion of combatants (DDR), security 82 million people spread out over
sector reform (SSR), national capa- 2.3 million square kilometers (a
city building and peace process. ration of a single troop for every
Another large operation - in South 4.800 people and 135 square
UN DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE Soudan - also has an extensive kilometers). Such situations are
compounded by the fact that many
POC mandate which includes pro-
tection from physical violence and countries where peacekeepers are
its deterrence; special protection deployed suffer instability, often
of IDP and refugee camps (which have poor infrastructure and limi-
embodies an active duty to protect; now shelter over 190 thousand pe- ted local security services. For pea-
Protecting civilians is done in
cooperation with humanita-
rian actors and with respect
for humanitarian principles;
The protection of civilians mandate
is consonant with the principles of
peacekeeping, including the con-
sent of the host State, impartial
mandate implementation, and the
use of force only in self defence or as
authorized by the Security Council;
The protection of civilians mandate
is a priority mandate, pursuant of
many Security Council resolutions.
Soon after the adoption of resolu-
tion 1265 and facing the dramatic
situation in Sierra Leone, the Se-
curity Council authorized UN pe-
acekeepers to be deployed there
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