DOCSLIB.ORG

On Civilian Harm

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

On Civilian Harm Examining the complex negative effects of violent conflict on the lives of civilians None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims. ELIE WIESEL (NOBEL PRIZE LECTURE, 1986) On Civilian Harm Examining the complex negative effects of violent conflict on the lives of civilians Editors: Erin Bijl, Welmoet Wels & Wilbert van der Zeijden On civilian harm ON CIVILIAN HARM Examining the complex negative effects of violent conflict on the lives of civilians Editors: Erin Bijl, Welmoet Wels & Wilbert van der Zeijden Copy right: Copyright © by PAX 2021 Organisation: PAX, Protection of Civilians team Publication date: June 2021 Design/Lay-out: Het IJzeren Gordijn Printing company: Drukkerij Stetyco ISBN: 978-94-92487-57-5 Credits and permission for the use of particular images and illustrations are listed on the relevant pages and are considered a continuation of the copyright page. Please reach out to [email protected] in case of concerns or comments. An online version of this book and its individual chapters can be downloaded for free at https://protectionofcivilians.org. For questions about dissemination, presentations, content or other matters related to the book, reach out to [email protected] All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, stored in a database and / or published in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, expect in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permissions contact [email protected]. 4 Table of contents Table of contents List of acronyms 7 Foreword 11 Preface 13 Introduction 19 PART I. Cases of civilian harm 1 Siege tactics: Hudeidah under fire (Yemen, 2018) 41 2 Oil fires: Apocalyptic scenes in Qayyarah (Iraq, 2016) 55 3 Sexual violence: Attacked for being Nuer (South Sudan, 2016) 69 4 Essential infrastructure: The targeting of (waste)water plants in Gaza (Palestine, 2014) 83 5 Chemical weapons: A Sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun (Syria, 2017) 97 6 Explosive remnants of war: A long-term legacy (Cambodia, 1960s-present) 111 7 Indirect fire: A hospital caught in a war zone (Ukraine, 2015) 125 8 Genocide: Targeted violence against the Yazidis from Sinjar (Iraq, 2014) 139 9 Airstrike: Bombs destroy a shelter in Al Mansoura (Syria, 2017) 153 10 Forced displacement: Paramilitary violence against the campesinos of El Toco (Colombia, 1997) 167 11 Suicide bombing: Bringing fear and destruction to Kabul (Afghanistan, 2015) 181 12 Weaponizing drinking water: Rivers, purification plants and generators as targets (Syria, 2014-16) 195 13 Ethnic cleansing: The Rohingya’s expulsion from Rakhine State (Myanmar, 2017) 209 PART II. Elements of civilian harm 14 Victims: The human cost of violent conflict 233 15 Perpetrators: Types, intentions, responsibility 251 16 Key factors: Causing or mitigating harm 269 17 Conclusion: Towards a shared understanding of civilian harm 287 About the authors 305 Bibliography 307 5 On civilian harm 6 List of acronyms List of acronyms AMISOM African Union Mission in Somalia ANA Afghan National Army ANP Afghan National Police ANSF Afghan National Security Forces ARSA Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army Asocomparto Community Association of Campesinos of El Toco (Spanish: Asociación Comunitaria de Parceleros de El Toco) AU African Union AUC United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (Spanish: Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) AWS Autonomous weapon systems BCE Before Common Era CCMT Civilian Casualty Mitigation Team CHM Civilian harm mitigation CMAC Cambodian Mine Action Centre CMWU Coastal Municipalities Water Utility CWC Chemical Weapons Convention DMZ Demilitarized Zone DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo ELN National Liberation Army (Spanish: Ejército de Liberación Nacional) ERW Explosive Remnants of War EU European Union EWIPA Explosive weapons in populated areas FARC Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) FFI Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (Norwegian: Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt) FSA Free Syrian Army GBP Great British Pound ICC International Criminal Court ICJ International Court of Justice ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDF Israeli Defence Forces IDP Internally displaced person 7 On civilian harm IED Improvised Explosive Device IHL International Humanitarian Law IHRL International Human Rights Law INCORA Colombian Institute for Agrarian Reform (Spanish: Instituto Colombiano de la Reforma Agraria) INEW International Network on Explosive Weapons INGO International non-governmental organisation ISAF International Security Assistance Force ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISKP Islamic State of Khorasan Province KDP Kurdish Democratic Party MAG Mines Advisory Group MoD Ministry of Defence MoI Ministry of the Interior MONUSCO United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: Mission de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en République démocratique du Congo) MSF Doctors Without Borders (French: Médecins Sans Frontières) NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NGO Non-governmental organisation NLD National League for Democracy OIR Operation Inherent Resolve OPCW Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons PA Palestinian Authority PKK Kurdish Workers’ Party (Kurdish: Partîya Karkerên Kurdistanê) POC Protection of Civilians PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder R2P Responsibility to Protect SAA Syrian Arab Army SARC Syrian Arab Red Crescent SAS Special Air Service SCD Syria Civil Defence SDF Syrian Democratic Forces SGBV Sexual and gender-based violence SPLA Sudan People’s Liberation Army 8 List of acronyms SPLA-IO Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition SPLM/A-IO Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition Su-22 Sukhoi-22 TGoNU Transitional Government of National Unity TRW Toxic Remnants of War UAE United Arab Emirates UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund UNMISS United Nations Mission in South Sudan UN OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East US United States USD United States Dollar UXO Unexploded Ordnance VDC Violations Documentation Center WASH Water, sanitation and hygiene WMD Weapons of mass destruction YPG People’s Protection Units (Kurdish: Yekîneyên Parastina Gel) 9 On civilian harm 10 Foreword Foreword ‘It should be self-evident: a government’s first duty is to protect its citizens. And the first duty for the governments united in this grand Council is to protect civilians under threat. From war, violence and suffering. After all, if we are not here to protect people, what are we doing?’ With these words, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs opened his remarks in the UN Security Council on 23 May 2019, at the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Council’s resolution 1265. In 1999, the Netherlands was privileged to join those voting in favour of UN Security Council resolution 1265. At the centre of the conception stood our conviction: In conflict, civilians must be protected. In the years preceding this resolution,civilians caught up in the crossfire had been failed too often. Since the adoption of resolution 1265, a lot has happened. The resolution has proven to be a useful tool in calibrating our attention on this central theme. We see a paradigm shift in our thinking: Missions without protection of civilians in their mandate have become inconceivable. However, indiscriminate attacks on civilians remain widespread in many armed conflicts and are driving a record number of people from their homes. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in 2019 approximately 70.8 million people were forcibly displaced. When bearing in mind the protection of civilians, not only direct consequences, such as buildings shattered, loss of infrastructure and people killed or injured, should be taken into account. The reverberating effects, such as psycho-social trauma, loss of livelihood, livestock and access to basic needs are extensive. When schools are targeted: The future of children is attacked. When neighbourhoods are targeted: Crop fields are destroyed, bakeries burnt and markets hit. It is why countries worldwide have agreed to regulate the conduct of warfare and abide by international legal rules during a conflict. These rules are designed to spare civilians in conflict and the dignity of their lives. It is not the lack of rules that allows the impunity of civilian harm. It is rather the persistent failure of parties to 11 On civilian harm armed conflict to comply with these rules and the lack of accountability in case of violations. Luckily, there are also rays of light. Allow me to commend the good work of PAX in Iraq and South Sudan. Within UNMISS and the NATO Mission in Iraq, the Protection of Civilians is an integral part. But, it is aided by the important lobby and advocacy work of civil society organisations, such as PAX, that bring voices from the field to the ears of security actors and policy makers and match the contribution to protection with the needs for protection in hopes to build local resilience.
Recommended publications
  • Country of Origin Information Report Syria June 2021

    Country of Origin Information Report Syria June 2021

    Country of origin information report Syria June 2021 Page 1 of 102 Country of origin information report Syria | June 2021 Publication details City The Hague Assembled by Country of Origin Information Reports Section (DAF/AB) Disclaimer: The Dutch version of this report is leading. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands cannot be held accountable for misinterpretations based on the English version of the report. Page 2 of 102 Country of origin information report Syria | June 2021 Table of contents Publication details ............................................................................................2 Table of contents ..........................................................................................3 Introduction ....................................................................................................5 1 Political and security situation .................................................................... 6 1.1 Political and administrative developments ...........................................................6 1.1.1 Government-held areas ....................................................................................6 1.1.2 Areas not under government control. ............................................................... 11 1.1.3 COVID-19 ..................................................................................................... 13 1.2 Armed groups ............................................................................................... 13 1.2.1 Government forces .......................................................................................
  • Call for Solidarity with Efrîn

    Call for Solidarity with Efrîn

    Call for Solidarity with Efrîn 12.03.2018 Preface This document includes declaration of several NGO’s and humanitarian organizations. Contents - NGOs and Humanitarian Actors signed on the statement. - Efrîn - Detailed file on the committed massacres done by the Turkish airstrikes and its allies on Efrîn. - Suspirations of using chemical weapons in Efrîn. - Civilian suffers in photos - Documented Victims in the period 20.1.2018 until 23.2.2018 - Detailed document on children victims of Turkish attacks on Efrîn. - Detailed document about women women victims o Turkish attacks on Efrîn. - Report about Basuteh massacre. - Attachment (signs and stamps of the NGOs) Annex - Map of the Efrîn 2 We the undersigning NGOs and humanitarian organizations, on the basis of the following statements and documentation reported by the Kurdish Red Crescent and other Humanitarian actors, deplore the aggression moved by Turkey against Efrîn region in north Syria, from where we get reports showing that the violations of human rights have reached to tragic levels. There are evidents that the Turkish state is braking international law and opposing the international conventions and resolutions during the ongoing massacres against the indigenous peoples of the region and also against the persons displaced in the same area. The Turkish state and some Free Syrian Army groups started this military attack on the 20th of January 2018 with an intensive shelling by Turkish warplanes, targeting both military sites and civil buildings in Efrîn such as houses, schools and hospitals. The Kurdish Red Crescent documented the death of 227 civilians, among those 32 child and 28 women, and 651 civilian are injured, among those 87 children and 93 women, due to Turkish attacks until 26’th of February.
  • Turkey-Continues-To-Weaponize-Alok

    Turkey-Continues-To-Weaponize-Alok

    www.stj-sy.org Turkey Continues to Weaponize Alok Water amid COVID-19 Outbreak in Syria Turkey Continues to Weaponize Alok Water amid COVID-19 Outbreak in Syria Turkey hampers the urgent response to Coronavirus Pandemic by cutting off water to over 600.000 population in northeast Syria Page | 2 www.stj-sy.org Turkey Continues to Weaponize Alok Water amid COVID-19 Outbreak in Syria 1. Legal analysis a) International Humanitarian Law Water is indispensable to civilian populations. It is not only essential to drink, but also for agricultural purposes and sanitation, all the more important in the wake of the COVID-19 sanitary crisis. Although at first neglecting the significance of water and food for civilian populations caught in armed conflicts, drafters of the Geneva Conventions’ Protocol remedied the gap by including, in Article 54 Additional Protocol I and in Article 14 Additional Protocol II for International and Non-International Armed Conflicts (IACs and NIACs) respectively, the protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population. Involving two states, that of Syria and that of Turkey, the ongoing conflict currently taking place in northeast Syria is of international character. As a result, and in application of these provisions, in IACs: It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or to the adverse Party, whatever the motive, whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive.
  • Atrocity Crimes Risk Assessment Series

    Atrocity Crimes Risk Assessment Series

    ASIA PACIFIC CENTRE - RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT ATROCITY CRIMES RISK ASSESSMENT SERIES MYANMAR VOLUME 9 - NOVEMBER 2019 Acknowledgements This 2019 updated report was prepared by Ms Elise Park whilst undertaking a volunteer senior in- ternship at the Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect based at the School of Political Science and International Studies at The University of Queensland. We acknowlege the 2017 version author, Ms Ebba Jeppsson (a volunteer senior APR2P intern )and the preliminary background research undertaken in 2016 by volunteer APR2P intern Mr Joshua Appleton-Miles. These internships were supported by the Centre’s staff: Professor Alex Bellamy, Dr Noel Morada, and Ms Arna Chancellor. The Asia Pacific Risk Assessment series is produced as part of the activities of the Asia Pacific Cen- tre for the Responsibility to Protect (AP R2P). Photo acknowledgement: Rohingya refugees make their way down a footpath during a heavy monsoon downpour in Kutupalong refugee settlement, Cox’s Bazar district, Bangladesh. © UNHCR/David Azia.Map Acknowledgement: United Nations Car-tographic Section. Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect School of Political Science and International Studies The University of Queensland St Lucia Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia Email: [email protected] http://www.r2pasiapacific.org/index.html LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AA Arakan Army AHA ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance ALA Arakan Liberation Army ARSA Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations EAO Ethnic Armed
  • 1 Submission to CEDAW Regarding Myanmar's Exceptional Report On

    1 Submission to CEDAW Regarding Myanmar's Exceptional Report On

    Submission to CEDAW regarding Myanmar’s Exceptional Report on the Situation of Women and Girls from Northern Rakhine State May 2018 Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights welcome the opportunity to provide joint input into the November 2017 request by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for an exceptional report from the Myanmar government on the situation of women and girls from northern Rakhine State. This submission outlines the findings of our organizations through several separate on-the-ground investigations in 2016, 2017, and 2018 that documented widespread human rights violations committed against ethnic Rohingya women and girls by Myanmar security forces. We have included an appendix of relevant publications by our organizations. Our organizations have documented numerous mass atrocity crimes—including widespread killings, torture, rape and other sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, and mass arson—committed by Myanmar’s army and other state security forces. Human Rights Watch has found that these atrocities against the Rohingya amount to crimes against humanity.1 Fortify Rights, along with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Allard K. Lowenstein Clinic at Yale Law School, found strong evidence of genocide being committed against the Rohingya.2 In November 2017, Pramila Patten, the United Nations special representative on sexual violence in conflict, said the Myanmar army’s widespread use of sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls was “a calculated tool of terror aimed
  • Of Iraq's Kirkuk

    Of Iraq's Kirkuk

    INSTITUT KURDDE PARIS E Information and liaison bulletin N° 392 NOVEMBER 2017 The publication of this Bulletin enjoys a subsidy from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Ministry of Culture This bulletin is issued in French and English Price per issue : France: 6 € — Abroad : 7,5 € Annual subscribtion (12 issues) France : 60 € — Elsewhere : 75 € Monthly review Directeur de la publication : Mohamad HASSAN Misen en page et maquette : Ṣerefettin ISBN 0761 1285 INSTITUT KURDE, 106, rue La Fayette - 75010 PARIS Tel. : 01-48 24 64 64 - Fax : 01-48 24 64 66 www.fikp.org E-mail: bulletin@fikp.org Information and liaison bulletin Kurdish Institute of Paris Bulletin N° 392 November 2017 • ROJAVA: PREPARING MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE • TURKEY: THE REPRESSION EXPANDS TO LIBER- AL CIRCLES; THE VIOLENCE IS INCREASING • IRAQI KURDISTAN: UNCONSTITUTIONAL DEMANDS FROM BAGHDAD, ARABISATION OF KIRKUK RESTARTED ROJAVA: PREPARING MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE. broad the “World Day for beginning to return to Raqqa, liber- the 17th with a suicide attack on a Kobani” was celebrated ated on 17th October. Regarding checkpoint that caused at least 35 on 1st November largely Deir Ezzor, the SDF fighters from victims in the Northeast of Deir as a symbol of this Syrian the “Jezirah Storm” operation, Ezzor Province, between the hydro- A Kurdish town’s unremit- launched on 9th September, liberated carbon fields of Conoco and Jafra. It ting resistance to the attack 7 villages near the town and about was, nevertheless, not able to pre- launched by ISIS in 2014 with fifteen km from the Iraqi borders, vent the SDF from reaching the Iraqi Turkish connivance.
  • Aki Ra Founded His Mine Mu- Seum, Which He Uses to Edu- Cate Visitors About the Risks of Unexploded Ordnance with a View to Avoiding Further Acci- Dents

    Aki Ra Founded His Mine Mu- Seum, Which He Uses to Edu- Cate Visitors About the Risks of Unexploded Ordnance with a View to Avoiding Further Acci- Dents

    Volume 19 No. 1 / May 2017 NewsleTTer PROJECT: CAMBODIA put the shell in his museum straightaway. Siem Reap, the second larg- est city in Cambodia, is where Aki Ra founded his mine mu- seum, which he uses to edu- cate visitors about the risks of unexploded ordnance with a view to avoiding further acci- dents. He also established and leads Cambodian Self Help Demining (CSHD), a small, highly professional mine clear- ance organisation. If that is not enough, he and his wife also founded an orphanage Photo: CSHD together, which around thirty Cambodia’s eastern provinces in particular contain a lot of mines and there children now call home, some are around 2,400 mines per kilometre on the Thai border. of whom have been injured by mines themselves. Aki Ra – a former child soldier There is a reason why mines and other weaponry are such who removes mines an important topic in Aki Ra’s life. Explosive remnants of war in Cambodia have killed or maimed 65,000 people in the last forty years – more than in almost any other country. World Without Mines is commit- ted to accelerating the clearance of mines in Cambodia. „I was showing a group of tourists around our mine muse- um recently when a man suddenly came running in,” Aki Ra tells us. „He had just seen children playing with an artillery shell only a hundred metres away.” Aki Ra left the visitors where they were and ran to find the children. They were actu- ally standing there with the shell in their hands.
  • Winter 2020 Full Issue

    Winter 2020 Full Issue

    Naval War College Review Volume 73 Number 1 Winter 2020 Article 1 2020 Winter 2020 Full Issue The U.S. Naval War College Follow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review Recommended Citation Naval War College, The U.S. (2020) "Winter 2020 Full Issue," Naval War College Review: Vol. 73 : No. 1 , Article 1. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol73/iss1/1 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Naval War College: Winter 2020 Full Issue Winter 2020 Volume 73, Number 1 Published by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2020 1 Naval War College Review, Vol. 73 [2020], No. 1, Art. 1 Cover Two modified Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) Block IV interceptors are launched from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) during a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) test to intercept a short-range ballistic-missile target, conducted on the Pacific Missile Range Facility, west of Hawaii, in 2008. The SM-2 forms part of the Aegis ballistic-missile defense (BMD) program. In “A Double-Edged Sword: Ballistic-Missile Defense and U.S. Alli- ances,” Robert C. Watts IV explores the impact of BMD on America’s relationship with NATO, Japan, and South Korea, finding that the forward-deployed BMD capability that the Navy’s Aegis destroyers provide has served as an important cement to these beneficial alliance relationships.
  • MASSACRE by the RIVER Burmese Army Crimes Against Humanity in Tula Toli WATCH

    MASSACRE by the RIVER Burmese Army Crimes Against Humanity in Tula Toli WATCH

    HUMAN RIGHTS MASSACRE BY THE RIVER Burmese Army Crimes against Humanity in Tula Toli WATCH Massacre by the River Burmese Army Crimes against Humanity in Tula Toli Copyright © 2017 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-6231-35614 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org DECEMBER 2017 ISBN: 978-1-6231-35614 Massacre by the River Burmese Army Crimes against Humanity in Tula Toli Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1 Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 9 To the Burmese Government .................................................................................................... 9 To the
  • Study the Democratic Union Party's Political Project for Syria 0

    Study the Democratic Union Party's Political Project for Syria 0

    www.jusoor.co Study 0 The Democratic Union Party’s Political Project for Syria www.jusoor.co Study 1 The Democratic Union Party’s Political Project for Syria www.jusoor.co Study 2 Contents Preface ........................................................................................................ 3 PYD’s Ideology towards Syria ................................................................... 4 PYD’s Project ......................................................................................... 4 The Decisions Related to the Founding Conference .............................. 6 2007 Amendments .................................................................................. 7 Amendments of 2012 .............................................................................. 9 Amendments of 2015 ............................................................................ 10 Amendments of 2017 ............................................................................ 10 Indications of Changes in the PYD’s Ideology .................................... 11 The PYD’s Policy and Activities towards Syria ...................................... 12 The Media Discourse ............................................................................ 12 Mass Demonstrations............................................................................ 16 The Possible New Trend of the PYD ....................................................... 17 The Outcomes ..........................................................................................
  • ISRAEL and the WMD THREAT: LESSONS for EUROPE by Cameron S

    ISRAEL and the WMD THREAT: LESSONS for EUROPE by Cameron S

    ISRAEL AND THE WMD THREAT: LESSONS FOR EUROPE By Cameron S. Brown* Having faced a growing threat from the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) for the past several decades, Israel has been forced to make counter-proliferation a top national defense priority.(1) It has invested billions of dollars in developing a multi-layered national defense strategy that is arguably the most highly developed of any country on earth. As such, Israel's experience in this field can offer several important lessons (from its mistakes and successes) for European countries that are only now coming under the range of several rogue countries' long-range missile systems, not to mention the growing threat of WMD terrorism (This article was originally written for a project and conference on "Countering Threats in the Era of Mass Destruction: Accounts from the Middle East and Europe," co-sponsored by the GLORIA Center and The Military Centre for Strategic Studies (CeMiSS) of Italy.) THE ISRAELI THREAT Secondly, in any conflict, Israel is PERCEPTION heavily dependent on a system of calling up In order to understand what policies reserve solders to reinforce its small Israel has devised and employed in order to standing army. Should one of Israel's counter WMD proliferation, it is imperative adversaries use a WMD in the first few to consider the threats Israeli security hours of hostilities--and especially if it hit planners have taken into consideration near a mobilization center--it would when formulating these strategies.(2) unquestionably impede any efficient The gravity of the situation for Israel lies mobilization of the reserve forces.
  • Cash-Based Response Feasibility Assessment in Northern Syria

    Cash-Based Response Feasibility Assessment in Northern Syria

    CASH-BASED RESPONSE FEASIBILITY ASSESSMENT IN NORTHERN SYRIA May 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary . 3 Acknowledgements . 6 Introduction . 7 Methodology . 10 Study Design Overview . 10 Desk Review . 11 Household Survey . 11 Key Informant Interviews . 13 Data Analysis . 13 Triangulation and Synthesis of Findings . 13 Receipt of Humanitarian Assistance and Unmet Needs . 15 Cash Feasibility Analysis . 18 Acceptibity . 18 Infrastructure . 21 Implementation Capacity . 24 Value-for-Money . 26 Risks . 28 Flexibility/Responsiveness . 29 Summary of Findings . 32 Recommendations . 35 References . 36 Annexes . 38 Syria Cash Feasibility Assessment • May 2016 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As the conflict in Syria extends beyond the fourth year, there is need for a widespread humanitarian re- sponse focused on urban areas that addresses humanitarian needs and promotes resilience for the 13 .5 million people in need of protection and humanitarian assistance within Syria . The majority of humanitarian assistance both in Syria and worldwide is provided as in-kind aid. However, over the past decade a transi- tion has occurred and cash-based approaches, including both conditional and unconditional cash-transfers and voucher programs, are becoming increasingly common. The cash-based response within Syria to date is small when compared to in-kind assistance and geographic coverage has been somewhat limited . In light of the significant challenges to providing assistance in Syria, there is a need to shift the program- ming focus towards sourcing assistance from within Syria rather than importing in-kind assistance; inter- ventions to support job creation, rehabilitation of industry and local markets; and empowering beneficiaries by responding to their feedback on which type of assistance is preferred .