UN deputy relief chief appeals to the Security Council for "full" protection of civilians

Annual Briefing to the Security Council on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict by Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator on behalf of Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

As delivered

Thank you, Mr. President. 

This year, we mark 25 years since the Security Council added the protection of civilians to its agenda.  We also mark the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, a cornerstone of international humanitarian law aimed at protecting victims of armed conflict.  

It is an important moment to reflect on the state of the protection of civilians in armed conflict. And to look at action needed to ensure international humanitarian law and the decisions of this Council are upheld and that civilians are safeguarded from harm. 

Mr. President, it is with regret that I report to you that the situation of civilians in armed conflict in 2023 was resoundingly dire. It was a year in which we saw the horrors of the 7 October attack by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups on Israel and the intense Israeli military response in Gaza that resulted in death, destruction and suffering at a pace and scale unprecedented in the recent past.  

About 75 per cent of Gaza’s population has been forcibly displaced. A man-made famine is looming. Thousands of children have been killed and injured in what UNICEF colleagues have called a “war on children.” An estimated 130 people remain hostage, with ongoing concerns for their humane treatment. 

In April 2023, we saw the eruption of similarly brutal conflict in Sudan, in which tens of thousands of civilians have been killed and injured. Millions of people have been displaced, acute food insecurity has soared and there have been reports of horrific attacks and inhuman treatment.  

Conflicts continued to have a grave and lasting impact on civilians in many other places, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Sahel, Somalia, Syria, and Ukraine.  

In total, the United Nations alone recorded more than 33,000 civilian deaths in armed conflict last year – a staggering number, particularly given that the actual figures are likely higher and a horrific 72 per cent increase compared with the previous year.   

The use of explosive weapons in populated areas had devastating impacts on civilians across numerous conflicts. In Sudan and Ukraine for instance, United Nations sources indicate that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas was the leading cause of civilian casualties. Across all conflicts, civilians accounted for 90 per cent of those killed and injured when explosive weapons were used in populated areas.  

Civilians were also severely affected by widespread damage and destruction to critical infrastructure. This disrupted the provision of electricity, water and health care to millions of people.  

Across 21 conflicts, more than 2,300 incidents of violence and other forms of interference against medical workers, facilities, equipment, transport and patients were recorded. 

Forced displacement also remained a defining feature of armed conflicts. By mid-year, a record-breaking 110 million people globally were in a situation of displacement due to conflict, persecution, violence and human rights violations or abuses. Sixty per cent were internally displaced.  

And conflict was the major driver of staggeringly high levels of hunger. Across 19 conflict-affected countries or territories, 117 million people experienced crisis levels of acute food insecurity or higher.  

In the middle of this, the efforts of the humanitarian community to support and provide for the needs of civilians was severely compromised by widespread constraints on access. Besides active hostilities and logistical challenges, chief among these were the parties’ bureaucratic impediments and an unconscionable number of attacks harming humanitarian workers.   

In 14 conflicts in 2023, not counting the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 91 humanitarian workers were tragically killed, 120 wounded and 53 abducted. In Gaza alone, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East lost 142 staff members in the violence between October and December. UN Development Programme and World Health Organization lost a staff member each.  

I want to take this opportunity to extend my sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of all civilians, including humanitarian workers, killed in conflict this year.  

Mr. President, the harm and suffering caused to civilians in 2023 signals an alarming lack of compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law. It also indicates that the Council’s protection of civilians resolutions of the last 25 years remain largely unheeded. We must redouble efforts to strengthen compliance by parties to conflict with these obligations. 

This includes third States taking responsibility for ensuring respect for the rules of war. This entails political dialogue, training and dissemination of policies, and withholding arms transfers where there is a clear risk that arms will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law. 

And whilst some progress was made in 2023, we must continue to strengthen accountability for violations. This must include upholding the independence and impartiality of the International Criminal Court.  

Mr. President – as the Secretary-General sets out in his report – the reality is that much of the civilian harm we see in today’s conflicts is occurring even when parties claim to be acting in compliance with the law. 

It is time to complement existing measures by adopting a more holistic approach – one that considers the perspective of civilians and takes into account the complex, cumulative and long-term nature of the full range of civilian harm in conflict.  

We have already seen some important waypoints on this journey. The Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas and the 2015 Safe Schools Declaration are both good examples of ways that States can commit to the greater protection of civilians in armed conflict, complementing their compliance with international humanitarian law.    

We urge all States to endorse these instruments and implement them in full.  

We urge them to follow the steps taken by some national and regional authorities in developing and adopting proactive protection of civilians policies, processes and tools aimed at better understanding and mitigating a broader range of civilian harm.  

And we need States, parties to conflict, UN actors, international and civil society organizations to reflect on how we can further develop and implement the full protection of civilians approach.  

Mr. President, 25 years on from when the Security Council first discussed the protection of civilians as an item on its agenda, a lot has been achieved.  

A culture of protection has taken root, and a comprehensive protection framework now exists. Security Council-mandated United Nations peace operations have protected and saved countless civilian lives. Security Council resolutions on the protection of medical care in armed conflict and on conflict and hunger have given important focus and urgency to these issues.  

Yet in too many conflicts, civilians continue to suffer unacceptable harm.    

The Security Council and Member States must demand and ensure compliance with international humanitarian law, international human rights law and the Council’s resolutions.  

And, if it is to have any real meaning for the millions of civilians affected by conflict, it is time to go above and beyond compliance: to strive for the full protection of civilians against the full range of harms they are suffering on our watch. Thank you.