(1) Decides to establish a United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) upon the adoption of this resolution and for an initial period of 12 months; 

(2) Further decides that UNITAMS, as part of an integrated and unified United Nations structure, shall, in full accordance with the principles of national ownership, have the following strategic objectives: (iii) Assist peacebuilding, civilian protection and rule of law, in particular in Darfur and the Two Areas: (b) Assist, advise and support the Government of Sudan’s capacity to extend state presence and inclusive civilian governance, in particular through …methods of unarmed civilian protection, 

(15) Underscores that the modalities and timeline for the transition of responsibility to UNITAMS from UNAMID of responsibility for unarmed civilian protection activities, such as those outlined in strategic objective 2(iii), to UNITAMS from UNAMID will be determined by the UNITAMS-UNAMID transition coordination mechanism, as appropriate and in line with paragraph 14 of this resolution; 

(132) The Special Committee requests a briefing before its next substantive session on the pilot projects of leveraging unarmed practices and capabilities of local communities to support the creation of a protective environment.

p. 3 Recognizing that unarmed civilian protection can often complement efforts to build a protective environment, particularly in the deterrence of sexual and gender-based violence against civilians, and encouraging UNMISS, as appropriate and when possible, to explore how it can use civilian protection techniques, including through community engagement, and the mission communication strategy, to enhance its ability to protect civilians, and to train UNMISS staff accordingly. 

The ICRC recommends that PKOs resources are focused on operations, armed or unarmed, in which peacekeepers are the only ones able to, or are the best placed to deliver, such as physical protection. The ICRC recognizes the value of the full spectrum of assets available to peacekeepers, and the importance of non-military assets in protecting civilians. It welcomes PoC unarmed approaches as integral parts of PoC mandates. Those approaches should, however, not be seen as substitutes, but rather complement armed interventions by peacekeepers to protect civilians. In exploring how to enhance unarmed approaches, peacekeeping operations must improve their capacities to physically protect and deter violence on civilians. Against the backdrop of shrinking resources and in the spirit of complementarity with other protection stakeholders, we recommend that UN Missions focus on unarmed protective activities that contribute directly to protection gains and study their complementarity with the work of uniformed personnel.  

p. 47 While the Council has granted or endorsed extensive use-of- force mandates, it has also promoted caution in the use of force as well as unarmed civilian strategies… In South Sudan, the Council has instructed UNMISS to explore protection techniques through unarmed civilian protection to complement efforts to build a protection environment.

p. 2 Recognizing that unarmed civilian protection can often complement efforts to build a protective environment, particularly in the deterrence of sexual and gender-based violence against civilians, and encouraging UNMISS, as appropriate and when possible, to explore how it can use civilian protection techniques, including through community engagement and the mission communication strategy, to enhance its ability to protect civilians, and to train UNMISS staff accordingly… 

(3c) Dedicated civilian observers: a civilian observer mission (deployed by the United Nations or a third party) could be established, with a specific mandate to report on protection and well-being issues and to provide local mediation. This would be particularly relevant in sensitive areas, such as checkpoints, the Gaza fence and areas near settlements;

(43) Although it does not involve physical protection through the potential or actual use of armed force, protection through the presence of unarmed observers (whether police or civilian, and whether deployed by the United Nations or a third party) is another option to be considered. Such a presence could, in cases where gaps are identified in existing monitoring and reporting mechanisms, be deployed provided that the situation on the ground permits. It is worth noting that, in the past, such mechanisms have been deployed by groups of like-minded Member States. An observer mission would normally be deployed to monitor a verifiable ceasefire or other agreement, as part of a transitional framework accepted by all the relevant parties.

(2) Endorses the proposals, recommendations and conclusions of the Special Committee contained in chapter V of its report; (3) Urges Member States, the Secretariat and relevant organs of the United Nations to take all steps necessary to implement the proposals, recommendations and conclusions of the Special Committee.

A compilation of recurring ideas is presented below in an effort to stimulate future deliberations to enhance the protection of civilians and civilian harm mitigation at all levels: Considering engaging and supporting non-military protection tools including unarmed civilian protection.

(34) Civilian action makes an important contribution to prevention. I receive frequent reports about how civilian action, whether undertaken by formal institutions, civil society groups, the private sector or courageous individuals, has helped ease tensions and prevent violence, including atrocity crimes, in different parts of the world…In civilian action we have a massive, yet under-utilized, resource for atrocity prevention.

(39) Civil society organizations have made significant contributions to atrocity prevention… Non-governmental humanitarian organizations provide assistance that can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. 

(301) The Special Committee underlines the relevance of unarmed strategies to protect civilians in peacekeeping operations as political instruments that can effectively protect civilians by helping to bring an end to violent conflicts, shoring up the confidence of parties in peaceful solutions and working to advance peace processes. In this regard, and taking into account the positive contributions of unarmed civilian protection, the Special Committee stresses that peacekeeping missions should make every effort to leverage the non-violent practices and capabilities of local communities to support the creation of a protective environment.