Protection of Civilians in UN Peacekeeping

UN peacekeeping is an instrument which provides security, political and peacebuilding support to help countries make the difficult transition from conflict to peace. Noting that civilians continue to account for the vast majority of casualties in situations of armed conflict, the United Nations Security Council has passed regular resolutions on the protection of civilians. These resolutions have contributed to the role of peacekeeping operations in protecting those most vulnerable in conflict-affected situations and confirmed these protective functions as a priority task of peacekeeping. There are currently twelve peacekeeping operations in different parts of the world, including Africa, Middle East, Europe and Asia. They were deployed and mandated to provide protection to civilian population in multiple contexts and are required to protect civilians under threat of physical violence.