An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 17 In response to this criticism, the UN Security Council passed its first protection of civilians (POC) resolution in 1999, and in 2006 it directed its peace-support missions to prioritise POC. The mandate of any UN mission lays down its operational tasks and Security Council Resolution 1674 (2006) deals directly with the protection of civilians in a UN-sanctioned mission, directing that if there is a POC mandate for the mission area it supersedes any other mandate tasking. Threats facing civilians during a conflict are wide ranging and can come from many sources, direct and indirect. These can in- clude a threat to life, physical integrity, freedom, or property, and threats of sexual violence, abduction and forced recruitment. The course started with a look at the inception of POC and the driving factors behind it. It also looked at some incidents where things went wrong on missions, identifying the main failing com- ponents and how such failures could be avoided in the future. We were then taught about POC mandates and how they are conceived for each potential UN mission. The development of the mandate begins with a technical field assessment of the country or territory where the deployment is envisaged. This analyses and assesses the overall security, political, military, humanitarian, and human rights situation on the ground, and the implications for a possible operation. If the Security Council determines that deploy- ing a UN peace-support operation is the most appropriate step to take, it will formally authorise this by passing a resolution that sets out the operation's mandate and size, and details the tasks it will be responsible for performing. The UN Security Council has developed a three-tier approach to POC mandates: dialogue and engagement; the establishment of a protective environment; and physical protection. These are designed to reinforce each other and operate simultaneously. Using this three-tier approach, the best POC plan is designed. This will include four phases: prevention; pre-emption; response; and consolidation. These will then be integrated into civilian, military and police components, and participating contin- gents' planning processes. To help us understand how these various tiers and phases work on the ground, the course examined current missions and their POC mandates. The main focus was on the POC mandate of UNIFIL, beginning with a short look at the history of the conflict in Lebanon, followed by an in-depth look at the situation there since 2007, and how the POC plan has been implemented and changed over time. This study was then used as the basis for a classroom exercise dealing with a fictitious country that has a conflict with a neigh- bour and also has internal radical extremists who are in conflict with the neighbouring country and their own government. We were then given a variety of scenarios and divided into syndicates to examine them from a POC and mission-mandate perspective. This syndicate work was very productive as it gave us a chance to get to know each other and to put what we had learned to the test, as well as seeing what our reactions would be too different threats and how we would decide what actions were required to provide the most protection for the civilian population. We also got to hear from guest lecturers from other interna- tional agencies that work in conflict zones, providing relief in many different forms. A guest from Plan International gave a presentation on child protection and highlighted the importance of protecting children from abuse, neglect, exploitation and vio- lence. as they can be the most vulnerable during a conflict. Lt Col Donal Bracken (Retd) from the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) gave a talk on the problems with combined humanitarian aid, how the OCHA conducts itself, and what it does in helping to deliver humanitar- ian aid to those who need it. Comdt J. Marley gave a lecture on security sector reform and disarmament demobilisation and reintegration (DDR). This is one of the new and highly-talked-about topics in recent years and deals with the aftermath of a conflict and how a country moves forward. This can involve the setting up of a government, police force, schools and hospitals. One of our last lectures was about the integration of a gender perspective in POC, as we were told that in many cultures women and children have few rights and their experience of conflict may be different to men's. Personally, I really enjoyed this course. I learned a lot and it opened my eyes to the bigger picture involved when serving overseas on a UN mission. It was also interesting to get different views and approaches from the international students on the course, whose experiences were different from mine as many of them had served with other missions and in other countries than I had. I would highly recommend this course, particularly to anyone who has served, or wishes to serve, overseas. The next course is scheduled to be held in UNTSI in November 2018. A local student gets a chance to use the metal detector that locates mines underground at UN 7-2 position in the vecinity of Marjayoun, south Lebanon. January 6, 2016. Photo: UNIFIL/Pasqual Gorriz Pictured are students and instructors from the 3rd International Protection of Civilians Course, UNTSI. Photo: Armn Adam Murphy

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