Nevertheless, international humanitarian law ( IHL, also known as the law of armed conflict) outlines the limits and ‘rules’ of war, aiming to balance military considerations against humanitarian requirements. In armed conflict, civilians face a mixture of direct and indirect threats to their lives, safety and wellbeing. What is the concept of PoC in armed conflict?

Primary responsibility for the protection and assistance of civilians lies with states, who are obliged to protect, respect and fulfil the human rights of all persons within their jurisdiction, in accordance with the standards of national and international law. In essence, the goal of protection is to improve the safety of civilians by limiting their exposure to violence, abuse, coercion, exploitation and deprivation and the threat thereof.

In the context of armed conflict, the concept of protection encompasses all activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the relevant bodies of law. The update was written before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic but the key principles referred to in this document on adherence to International Humanitarian Law and international human rights laws are not affected. It builds on the UK’s PoC strategy paper published in 2010, and has been drafted following consultation with non-governmental organisations, civil society, academics and others. This paper provides an update to March 2020 on the UK approach to the Protection of Civilians ( PoC) in armed conflict situations.

Armed conflict definition