Everyday Protection: Learning from United Nations Protection of Civilians Sites

Abstract

• ‘Protection of Civilians’ (PoC) has been a dominant focus of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions in recent decades. At the same time, ‘Protection of Civilians’ is a contested and ambiguous concept, with its practical meanings often established in the realities of implementation. The introduction to this special issue argues that ‘Protection of Civilians sites’ (established in South Sudan in 2013) are important for understanding how protection commitments and policies have worked in practice. Subsequent articles examine the everyday experiences of PoC sites, showing how this is a crucial lens for understanding PoC interventions in South Sudan and more widely.