Strengthening Civilian Capacities to Protect Civilians (ESS.2019.006)
According to the World Bank, more than 1.5 billion people live in countries affected by repeated violence. In absolute terms, the need for direct physical protection of civilians against imminent violence has never been greater than it is today. Local and international actors are struggling to protect all those under direct threat, wherever conflict occurs. A small number of civil society and humanitarian organizations have begun providing direct physical protection for civilians through a method called Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP), which promotes nonviolent means for a community to protect itself from violence.
The aim of this course is to raise awareness for and increase understanding of UCP. It starts by explaining the need for UCP, followed by an introduction to its key principles and methods, and finally describing how it fits into wider protection efforts and global discourses.
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Recall the key principles and sources of guidance of UCP;
- Explain UCP methods and required skills;
- Outline key steps to go through in preparation for entering a community;
- Outline key actions to undertake while living in and exiting a community;
- Devise a comprehensive UCP implementation strategy.
This self-paced course is composed of six modules:
- Advocacy Module;
- Instroduction to Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP);
- UCP: Objectives, principles and sources of guidance;
- UCP: Key methods;
- UCP in practice 1: Preparation and entrance into the community;
- UCP in practice 2: Living in and exiting the community.
This advocacy course is a self-guided, self-paced, web-based course that is on-going and can be accessed at any time. The material is presented in text format with visual aids and web-based reference resources. Regular activities allow the participant to test their understanding of and reinforce the message of the course.
The course is open to anyone interested in unarmed civilian protection, including practitioners working in post-conflict contexts, field workers, and international volunteers. United Nations Volunteers, holding a valid contract, can benefit from a reimbursement from the UNV Programme. Students are entirely responsible for ensuring their eligibility and requesting their reimbursement directly with the UNV office.
Technical Requirements
UNITAR recommends the following as a minimum in hardware and software to take our e-Learning courses. Please consult your Network Administrator or Systems person to ensure that you have the following:
Platform:
- Windows XP, 7 or superior;
- MacOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or superior;
- Linux.
Hardware:
- Intel Core 2 Duo – or AMD – 3 GHz processor;
- 3 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended);
- Hard drive: 160 GB minimum.
Software:
- Adobe Acrobat Reader;
- Adobe Flash Player.
Browser:
- Google Chrome 30.0 or superior;
- Mozilla Firefox 25.0 or superior;
- Safari 7 or superior;
- Internet Explorer 8 or superior.
Note that JavaScript, Cookies and Popups must be enabled
Mobile:
- Apple iOS in Apple iOS 7 or superior on iPad:
- Articulate Mobile Player;
- Moodle Mobile.
- Android OS in Android OS 4.1 or superior (optimized for tablets):
- Articulate Mobile Player;
- Moodle Mobile.