Humanitarian protection

The Geneva Conventions of 1949

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the 1949 Geneva Conventions made clear that warring parties must protect civilians from harm, although the conventions did not explicitly define protection as a humanitarian activity.[1][2] Protection as a humanitarian concept was introduced in the 1952 Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement which categorized all humanitarian activities into assistance or protection.[2]

In 2008, the International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC) Protection Policy categorized protection into four types: military protection, military protection, legal and judicial protection, and humanitarian protection.[2] The ICRC policy defines humanitarian protection as: ensuring authorities and others in power respect their own obligations to preserve the physical integrity, safety and dignity of people affected by conflict and violence.[2] Protection activities include efforts to prevent or stop breaches of international humanitarian law and other relevant legislation.[2]

Ordinarily, ensuring the rights of civilians is the activity of national governments, however the consequences of humanitarian emergencies or deliberate choices by governments may leave civilians in need of protection.[3] Humanitarian protection needs tend to arise in times of armed conflict, civil unrest, and in the aftermath of natural disasters.[3]

In the United Nations humanitarian cluster system, protection is one the eleven defined types of activity.[4] While some legal and advocacy activities are the specific mandate the International Committee of the Red Cross,[3] most protection activities are coordinated by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees through its leadership of the Global Protection Cluster.[4]

The primary activities that humanitarian aid actors undertake with regards to protection relate to: refugee law; protection of children; sexual and gender based violence; land, property and housing rights; and land mines.[5]

ALNAP's 2015 State of the Humanitarian System report identified protection both as the principle need for many of the growing number of people affected by humanitarian crises, and the area where the humanitarian system was least effective.[8]^: 11The report identified protection as the poorest funded humanitarian activity, noting that only 30% of requests from humanitarian agencies to fund protection activities were met by donors.[8]^: 44

Norwegian Refugee Council's 2015 report Independent Whole of System Review of Protection in the Context of Humanitarian Action identified "a significant gap between rhetoric and reality on protection."[9]

Between 2015 and 2017, the needs for humanitarian protection increased, but critiques of the ability of some of the larger humanitarian aid agencies to meet them identified both successes and failures.[10]^{: 186, 187}

International Humanitarian Law was written when it was clearer to distinguish military from civilians and was also written with the assumption that there was little military advantage to attacking civilian targets.[1] These assumptions have become decreasingly accurate since the Second World War, as warring parties have increasingly deliberately targeted civilians and as the distinction between civilians and warring parties has become more opaque.[1]

As humanitarian actors and civilians have increasingly become targets in conflict, protection activities have modernized to include greater emphasis on international humanitarian law compliance, plus wider efforts to bolder international justice institutions.[1] Legislation such as 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the 1984 United Nations Convention against Torture, the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the 1997 Ottawa Landmines Treaty have been used to improve humanitarian protection.[1]

• Global Protection Cluster official website