OCHA Humanitarian Newsmaker: Vol 1, Issue 10 - Dec 2007

Protection of civilians in armed conflict conflict-the case of Central and East Africa. This issue of Humanitarian Newsmaker - the last in 2007 - revolves around the theme of protection of civilians in armed conflict. It takes as a point of departure the United Nations Secretary-General's most recent Report on the Protection of Civi lians in Armed Conflict which was presented to the UN Securit y Council on 20 November. Ban Ki -moon, while acknowledging that there has been some progress in recent years towards strengthening the protection of civilians, introduced his report with the following statement:

"In [...] conflicts, large numbers of civilians - women, girls, boys and men - suffer unimaginable violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. As I state in my report now before you, some victims are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Others are deliberately targeted and subjected to appalling human rights abuses in an environment of almost total impunit y. Deliberate attacks against civilians are often employed as an instrument of warfare. That is why the protection of civilians is and must remain an absolute priority. For me as Secretary-General. For the United Nations. For this Council. And, above all, for the Member States with whom rests the primary responsibilit y for protecting civilians".

The pre-dominantly internal armed conflicts in the World today, not least in the Central and East African region, put large numbers of civilians at risk. Indeed, the majorit y of those killed, injured, uprooted, traumatized and impoverished by armed conflict are civilians - not combatants.

Steps have been taken by the international community to specify what is considered legitimate targets for lawful warfare and what is unlawful harm inflicted on civilians. But a wide gap remains between the commitments made and the humanitarian situation for vulnerable groups on the ground in conflict zones as the articles in this issue highlight.

- Protection of the elderly and disabled

- The denial of children's rights

- Protection of displaced populations

- Gender-based violence

- Media professionals in danger