Report of the conference "New Conflicts and the Challenge of the Protection of the Civilian Population"

In contemporary armed conflicts the overwhelming majority of the dead and injured are civilians and the bulk of the damages affect infrastructures vital to them. Actually, the very nature of armed conflicts has changed over the last two decades with dramatic consequences for the protection of the civilian population on the ground. An international conference on this issue was organized by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL), in cooperation with the Institute for International Affairs (IAI), and held in Rome at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 14 December 2010. Eminent speakers delivered comprehensive and thought-provoking presentations on a number of outstanding questions, including the interrelationship between international humanitarian law and human rights law, the concept of responsibility to protect and the role of peacekeeping forces in protecting civilians, the protection of the civilian population in asymmetric conflicts and in occupied territory, the protection of women and children, the criminal accountability for grave breaches of norms protecting civilians, and the obligations and responsibilities of non-state actors in this field.

Report of the international conference on "New Conflicts and the Challenge of the Protection of the Civilian Population", held in Rome at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 14 December 2010 and organized by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL) in cooperation with the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI).