An enormous amount of the Council's attention has been focused recently on pr...

An enormous amount of the Council's attention has been focused recently on protection issues, with the Council adopting a number of resolutions and statements on the protection of civilians and related issues of violence against women and children in situations of armed conflict. In bringing those protection issues within the purview of matters relating to international peace and security, the Council has placed them squarely at the centre of the conflict resolution and peacekeeping agenda. That intense focus has, in some situations of conflict, shifted attention from the tried and tested methods of mediation and negotiation that are the staples of conflict resolution.