About us
The Civilian Protection Monitor is a collaborative partnership between Airwars and PAX, building on more than a decade of joint advocacy and concerted efforts to improve the protection of civilians in conflict. CPM is a tool to identify best practices and lessons learned on the protection of civilians, understand gaps in national systems, and facilitate the implementation of stronger approaches.
The framework behind CPM is adapted from the ‘Protecting Together’ toolkit developed by the Center for Civilians in Conflict, which allows for the consistent measurement and comparison of state policies and practices.
Airwars
Airwars is the pre-eminent global civilian harm watchdog, with a decade’s expertise documenting and exposing civilian harm and holding those responsible to account. We aim to reliably and independently document the human cost of war in order to promote a more peaceful world where human lives are acknowledged and taken into account by militaries, policy-makers, and global citizens with dignity and empathy. Founded in 2014, Airwars engages with states engaging in modern conflicts, such as the United States, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands to review policy, doctrine, and practice on civilian harm mitigation and response, incorporating lessons from recent engagements in order to improve future approaches. Much of this work has led to improved systems and recognition of the consequences of warfare for civilians across the world; in the United States, for instance, over 70 percent of the allegations of civilian harm examined by the Department of Defense originate in the Airwars archive.
PAX
PAX is a Netherlands-based NGO with additional offices and peacebuilding programmes in over a dozen (post-)conflict countries. Together with people in conflict areas and concerned citizens worldwide, PAX works to build just and peaceful societies across the globe. The protection of civilians (PoC) is at the heart of its work. PAX’s PoC team carries out research, facilitates inclusive dialogue, influences security policies, and provides training and advice to a range of PoC actors. The team works closely with local partners and activists, as well as relevant authorities to improve the effectiveness of PoC interventions by enabling civilians to hold security actors to account, and working to equip and motivate those actors to design and implement more inclusive, civilian-centred protection strategies. PAX has demonstrated expertise in monitoring the impact of conflict on civilian populations, and engages with national governments in the Netherlands, the United States, and Iraq, as well as with international bodies like the UN and NATO, to press for higher protection standards. Note that while the PAX PoC programme is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Monitor’s analysis of the Netherlands is completely independent.
Contact us
If you have questions regarding our work on the Civilian Protection Monitor or are interested in exploring collaborations, please reach out to us via this form.
