Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) Core support 2021-2024

2023 represents the third year of implementation of CIVIC's 2021-2025 strategic plan, and also the third year of Sida's core support under the current agreement. In 2023 overall, CIVIC continued their work to support civilians to bring about improved protection for themselves and their communities. To achieve this, CIVIC followed communities own protection priorities and, jointly with them, explored if and how CIVIC could add to their existing agency, leadership, and technical capabilities to address these priorities more effectively. CIVIC sought to ensure that civilians have the knowledge, skills, and access to advocate for their protection needs, including with armed actors. During the period, CIVIC expanded their work to Somalia where they established Community Protection Groups (CPGs). Although CIVIC is no longer active in Iraq, the CPGs and Champions Advocacy Groups (CAGs) previously established there continue to advance civilian protection concerns. In Nigeria, CIVIC expanded their community protection work to the northwest and northcentral areas in response to need there, while also stepping up community-based protection work in the Sahel. Finally, in Ukraine CIVIC facilitated the creation of new CPGs in response to need there Globally, CIVIC continued to elevate and advocate for the prioritization of POC by key multilateral and peacekeeping coalitions and bodies at the global level in 2023. From the UN to peacekeeping missions in DRC, South Sudan and Mali, CIVIC influenced key bodies to advance POC measures. CIVIC also launched a landmark global awareness campaign to call for governments to recommit to act to protect civilians. Furthermore, in 2023, CIVIC conducted in-depth research on peacekeeping missions in the DRC, South Sudan and Mali and has engaged in strategic advocacy in UN Member State capitals and at UN headquarters in New York. CIVIC influenced key peacekeeping policies to advance POC, including recommending steps to mitigate harm to civilians following the MINUSMA mandate termination. CIVIC also organized an event called "Prioritizing Protection during UN Peacekeeping Transitions: Lessons from two years of UNSCR 2594 Implementation". The event, which included speakers from the Permanent Missions of Ireland and the Netherlands, the DRC Integrated Operational Team and CIVIC, was an opportunity for CIVIC to highlight preliminary results from the One UN Approach research and to receive feedback from stakeholders. Furthermore, as the insecurity associated with the activities of armed opposition groups (AOG) in the Sahel Central region has spread to the southern Sahel Central states and recently reached the northern West African coastal states, CIVIC began engagement with these countries in 2024. CIVIC has submitted a separate brief document on this, see Dox 20/001424-173, as these activities are not part of the annual report for 2023 submitted to Sida. Community Protection Groups (CBG): country-examples In northeast Nigeria, Dikwa, community members alleged that a soldier was extorting civilians at a key checkpoint leading to farmlands. The local CBG coordinator reported the incident to the military, who conducted a thorough investigation of the soldier. As a result, the soldier was banned from participating in civilian-led activities, and demoted. Similarly, in Konduga, concerns were raised by civilians facing threats from Armed Opposition Groups (AOGs), hindering their access to farmlands. In response, the Nigerian military launched an operation to dislodge AOGs from the area, ensuring farmers could safely harvest their produce. In Ukraine, CIVIC established seven new CPGs across the two regions of Poltava Oblast, and Sumy Oblast. This empowered communities to advocate for their protection concerns and has significantly enhanced local safety and preparedness.(p.5). In 6 communities in Poltava and Sumy, 62.7% of civilian survey participants responded that they have experienced an improvement in their protection as a result of CIVICs Community-based protection activities. One concrete example included in CIVIC's Annual report for 2023 was a CPG in Pyriatyn, (Poltova Oblast), who identified the lack of clarity around the evacuation plans put in place by local and military authorities. With CIVICs support, they brought this to the attention of the local civilian and military authorities and stressed that the population should be more involved in the design and implementation of the plan. After engaging with the CPG, the Local Deputy Mayor of the Oblast acknowledged that the plan may in fact not work in the event of a real event. The CPG then assumed responsibility for creating and disseminating evacuation procedures to everyone in their community. In July 2023, the CPG was able to organize a successful simulation exercise to test the effectiveness of the new evacuation plan. In CIVICs survey of the population of Pyriatyn at the conclusion of these exercises, 75.4% of the respondents stated that they knew what to do in case of an evacuation, while 55% told CIVIC that they now know better what local authorities can do for them in case of an evacuation. Also in Ukraine, 2023 marked a year of expansion of CIVICs newest and seemingly effective Civil Society Organization (CSO) capacity-building tool the Local Initiatives Fund (LIF). In 2023, 12 communities received assistance through the LIF program (no Sida-funds are transferred through the LIF) and local NGOs that received support were able to cover hard-to-reach population groups through their protection activities, foster cooperation with stakeholders that were not previously involved in community safety and security, and address community protection needs much faster than local authorities. The initiatives enabled the development of 47 evacuation plans, 39 bomb shelters, 8 air raid alert systems, and critical safety training of over 1790 civilians in how to protect themselves during the shelling of residential areas, or when encountering mines and other explosive ordinance. According to a survey conducted by CIVIC across these Oblasts, 62.7% of civilian survey participants have experienced improved protection as a result of local CSO's actions. In Somalia, gender-balanced Community Protection Committees (CPCs) have presented evidence of gender-based violence to security forces, resulting, in some cases, with the removal of the offending commanders.

The expected impact of CIVIC's strategic plan 2021-2023, extended to also include 2024 is that civilians experience a significant reduction in conflict-related harm. The three objectives, or results, that would lead to the expected impact, are: 1) Conflict-affected civilians bring about improved protection for their communities 2) Governments and armed actors implement effective strategies and best practices on the protection of civilians 3) Multinational bodies and coalitions take action to protect civilians from harm With this contribution, Sida will support the first four years of the 5-year strategic plan.