UN Peacekeeping operations and gendered threats to the protection of civilians

The intersection between the protection of civilians (POC) and gender hasbeen addressed in Security Council resolutions on POC and on women, peace,and security (WPS) since the late 1990s. Nonetheless, understanding howPOC and gender converge, and translating this convergence intoimplementable action plans, are challenging tasks for peacekeeping missions

Dead Bodies of War in Legal-Historical Context

Since the early days of the war between Ukraine and Russia, there have been various accounts of what is being done or not being done with the bodies of the dead. This post places reports on what is done with the bodies of the dead of war in a historical-legal perspective. How did previous generations deal with their war dead in various eras of world history

The language of protection: need for new semantics?

'Protection' and 'protection of civilians' are key words in international humanitarian action and peacekeeping since the late 1990s. They are engrained in mission mandates, organisational policies and planning mechanisms, yet there is no universal agreement on its actual content or scope. This article analyses the different usese of hte word 'protection' and argues that its etymological semantic base is currently at the core of the misunderstandings surrounding the concept