Protection of Civilians Course (POC 24-1)

The changing nature of armed conflicts has resulted in an increased civilian-combatant interface, to the extent that contemporary conflicts have been referred to as 'wars among the people'. Civilian populations bear the greatest brunt of today’s complex and intractable conflicts. This changing nature of conflicts has necessitated both doctrinal and operational shifts in peace support operations.

Protection of Civilians has increasingly become an integral component of contemporary peace operations. Emerging international support to the “responsibility to protect” norm notwithstanding, peacekeepers and other actors involved in peace support operations are often not adequately prepared or trained to deal with the daunting task of civilian protection agenda.

The aim of this course is therefore to enhance the capacity of participants for the effective implementation of POC mandates in Peace Operations, in order to mitigate the effects of conflicts on civilians.