The Research School on Peace and Conflict organises the course 'Humanitarian Action and the Protection of Civilians' 28-31 October. The course is based on the research project Protection of Civilians: from principle to practice, organised in collaboration between CMI, NUPI and PRIO within the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies.

The protection of civilians (PoC) became a central concern in the international community in the late 1990s, accompanying an upsurge in humanitarian action and peacekeeping. While considerable efforts have been made by the UN and the humanitarian community to integrate PoC in policies, it is less evident how the principle is operationalized and institutionalized in practices on the ground. This research course explores the international political conditions for the PoC agenda and how these are reflected in the role and impact of humanitarian action in cases like Afghanistan, Uganda, Somalia, South Sudan and Colombia.

The deadline for applications is 8 September 2014. For more information on curriculum and registration, see the course website.