Community engagement, protection and peace: putting the nexus into action - EN

Protracted, non-international armed conflicts, and the range of actors participating in them, have significantly increased in the last 20 years. This has presented challenges for protection actors in preventing and responding to protection risks.

Community engagement with armed actors is often less visible and can take place before any recognised mediation or negotiation processes. There is a need for a shift in approaches to humanitarian protection, and consideration of how civilian engagement strategies can be supported. These strategies can be made more effective when the complex, dynamic relationships between communities and armed actors are understood, and when approaches are tailored to those communities.