Position Paper

The delegate of United Kingdom

United Nations Development Programme
Sustainable Development In Post-Conflict Regions

Post-conflict regions are those who have suffered an armed conflict and that
have entered a process that involves the achievement of peace milestones.
Peace milestones in post conflict regions include cessation of hostilities and
violence; signing of political/peace agreements;demobilization, disarmament, and
reintegration; refugee repatriation; establishing a functioning state; achieving
reconciliation and societal integration and economic recovery.

This paper provides an update to March 2020 on the UK approach to the

Protection of Civilians (PoC) in armed conflict situations. It builds on the UK’s
PoC strategy paper published in 2010, and has been drafted following
consultation with non-governmental organizations, civil society, academics and
others. 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. 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. Primary responsibility for the protection and assistance of civilians lies
with states, who are obliged to protect, respect and fulfill the human rights of all
persons within their jurisdiction, in accordance with the standards of national and
international law. Improved PoC requires greater compliance with international
laws by State and non-State actors, an improved response by the international
community, and support to States to develop their capabilities to protect their
own populations. The UK will always uphold international laws, use our influence
to encourage others to do likewise, seek to condemn those that do not, and push
for accountability.

The UK works towards these commitments through:

● political engagement
● strengthening accountability
● peace support operations
● ensuring respect for IHL in UK military operations
● strengthening State and non-State capacity
● humanitarian action
● offering refuge to those in need of protection.