Head of Regional Delegation for the US and Canada, International Committee of the Red Cross, USA.
Prehosp Disaster Med. 2009 Jul-Aug;24 Suppl 2:s197-201. doi: 10.1017/s1049023x00021580.
The concept of protecting civilians in armed conflict is enshrined in international humanitarian law and widely acknowledged in humanitarian norms. Making this concept operational in humanitarian service delivery is a challenge. Yet, there are many ways in which humanitarian workers could learn from local people about underlying tensions in their community and with these new insights adjust service delivery accordingly. The 2009 WG developed a qualitative verbal tool that could be used by humanitarian field staff to assist them in understanding issues of civilian protection from the local perspective. The attributes and uses of this tool are described in detail in this WG report. The fundamental aim of this tool is to enhance the capacity of humanitarian workers in their daily work to observe markers of activity and behavior and to inquire and listen from local people about what these markers might or might not mean. The WG emphasized the needs for confidentiality, focus on service delivery (not legal or advocacy work), and iterative routine integration of information gained into field team deliberations. The proposed tool is offered as a possible pilot step towards improving humanitarian understanding and response to local civilian protection needs.
保护武装冲突中的平民的概念被载入国际人道主义法，并在人道主义规范中得到广泛承认。在人道主义服务提供中实现这一概念具有一定的挑战性。然而，人道主义工作者可以通过许多方式向当地人学习其社区中的潜在紧张局势，并根据这些新的见解相应地调整服务提供。2009 年工作组制定了一个定性口头工具，可供人道主义实地工作人员使用，以协助他们从当地人的角度理解平民保护问题。该工作组报告详细描述了该工具的属性和用途。该工具的根本目的是增强人道主义工作者在日常工作中观察活动和行为标志的能力，并向当地人询问和倾听这些标志可能或可能意味着什么。工作组强调需要保密、关注服务提供（而非法律或宣传工作），并将获得的信息逐步常规地纳入实地小组的审议。拟议的工具被作为一个可能的试点步骤，以改进对当地平民保护需求的人道主义理解和应对。
