The progress of the United Nations is the result of years of hard work at Hea...

The progress of the United Nations is the result of years of hard work at Headquarters and in the field. Resolution 1894 (2009) was a landmark in the global effort to better protect civilians in conflict zones. So, too, is this year's report from the General Assembly's Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (A/64/19). Both documents called for mission-wide planning, better predeployment training and stronger protection strategies. We applaud the Organization's recent development of mission-wide protection strategies in Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Sudan. We urge that those strategies be implemented, and we look forward to the expansion of similar approaches to other United Nations missions. Despite those notable achievements, we are still reminded every day of how far we have to go. We are deeply concerned by the trends outlined in the Secretary-General's report (S/2010/579), especially the seemingly ceaseless unlawful targeting of civilians, including women, children, humanitarian workers and journalists. Children are still being forcibly recruited to become soldiers. Women and girls in particular face constant threats of rape and sexual abuse, and the number of refugees and internally displaced persons has only grown larger since last year.