Security Council Cross Cutting Report no.3

This is Security Council Report's third Cross-Cutting Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict. The first report was published in October 2008. The purpose of the series is to highlight the emergence of protection of civilians as a thematic issue on the Council's agenda starting in the 1990s and analyse in detail actual Council action on protection issues in country-specific situations in the light of the thematic decisions. The second report, in October 2009, coincided with the tenth anniversary of Council involvement in protection of civilians as a thematic issue. That report looked specifically at new developments relating to the Council's protection of civilians agenda over the previous year and identified new trends and remaining challenges.

The present report continues the series to systematically track the Council's approach to the protection of civilians both at the thematic and country-specific levels. It is our hope that this and future such reports may serve as useful resources for all who are interested in the Council's work on this issue and as a tool for measuring the progress which the Council is making.