New community-informed approaches to humanitarian protection and restraint

2001至2016年间，世界各地武装冲突的数量以及在这些冲突中交战的当事方数量大幅上升。因此，我们需要在社区一级更好地了解在暴力环境中促进克制和缓和局势的关键因素。以前的研究表明，理解克制文化如何在社区内社会化是有价值的。然而，人们对社区在影响武装团体行为方面所起的作用知之甚少。目前的人道主义保护方法植根于形式化的法律方法。然而，在全球人道主义准则在实地受到质疑或被忽视的情况下，这些方法是有局限性的。需要一种新的自下而上的人道主义保护方法，这项研究试图找出当地保护措施的成功范例，并制定方法，将这些措施传达给遭受暴力的类似社区和援助机构。该项目将在侵犯人权行为普遍存在，包括性暴力水平极高的刚果民主共和国发挥作用。虽然在国家和区域一级解决冲突显然是长期解决办法，但与此同时，援助机构、地方宗教机构和民间社会团体努力保护平民。这项研究旨在为社区和援助提供者提供新的理解和工具，以加强保护措施。通过确定这种地方措施在哪里起作用，以及在什么情况下发挥作用，研究将为政策和实践提供证据基础。我们的财团由发展研究所、刚果民主共和国的两个伙伴组织--社会经济干预中心(CEPRISE)和国家艺术研究所(INA)以及行动援助组织组成。我们处于开展这项研究的理想位置，将参与性方法、土著知识、性别和自下而上的人道主义方法的丰富经验与通过戏剧、音乐和文学讲述故事结合在一起。通过确定、定位、记录和了解地方保护措施在哪里起作用；我们的目标是帮助援助机构和政策制定者找到支持这些努力的适当方法，并可能找到复制这些努力的方法。我们的目标是：1.提供证据，证明基于社区的地方保护措施是否有效，以及在何种情况下有效。2.提供证据，说明防止或减少性暴力的基于社区的地方措施是否有效以及在何种情况下有效。3.收集证据，说明地方和社区对性暴力受害者的不同态度，以及在什么情况下这些态度允许康复。开发创新的当地传播方法，传授成功的保护措施的知识。为援助机构提供方案方面的经验教训，以便它们能够调整保护方案，以支持地方措施。为援助机构提供政策教训，以便系统的保护方法可以纳入和支持地方行动。这项研究的目的是产生概念上的影响，并为社区和援助提供者提供新的理解和工具，以加强保护措施。通过确定这种地方措施在哪里起作用，以及在什么情况下发挥作用，研究将为政策和实践提供证据基础。此外，这项研究将在建立网络和连接的过程中产生影响；它将与社区一起设计传播这些成功的方式，以便它们可以在其他情况下进行调整和复制。该项目具有强大的知识核心，但也解决了一个重要的政策和实际问题，因为全球人道主义界一直在努力了解社区一级的动态，并将其纳入其方案。

The number of armed conflicts around the world, as well as the number of parties fighting in these conflicts, has risen significantly between 2001 and 2016. We therefore need to better understand the key factors at the community level that promote restraint and de-escalation in violent environments. Former studies show the value of understanding how a culture of restraint is socialised within a community. However, not much is known about the role that communities play in influencing the behaviour of armed groups. Current approaches to humanitarian protection are rooted in formalised legalistic approaches. However, these approaches have limits in contexts where global humanitarian norms are contested or ignored on the ground. A new bottom-up approach to humanitarian protection is needed and this research seeks to identify successful examples of local protection measures and generate methods for communicating these to similar communities experiencing violence and to aid agencies.This project will work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where human rights abuses are widespread, including extremely high levels of sexual violence. Whilst the resolution of the conflict on a national and regional level is clearly the long-term solution, in the meantime aid agencies, local religious institutions and civil society groups struggle to protect civilians. This research aims to provide new understandings and tools to both communities and aid providers to reinforce protective measures. By identifying where such local measures have worked, and under what circumstances, the research will provide an evidence base for policy and practice. Our consortium is formed of the Institute of Development Studies; two partner organisations in DRC - the Centre d'etude et de promotion en interventions socio-economiques (CEPRISE) and Institut National des Arts (INA); and Action Aid. We are ideally placed to undertake this research, bringing together deep experience of participatory methods, indigenous knowledge, gender and bottom-up approaches to humanitarianism, with storytelling through drama, music and literature. Through identifying, locating, documenting and understanding where local protective measures have worked; we aim to help aid agencies and policy makers find appropriate ways to support these efforts and possibly find ways to replicate them. Our objectives are:1. To generate evidence on whether local, community-based protection measures work, and in what circumstances. 2. To generate evidence on whether local, community-based measures to prevent or reduce sexual violence work and in what circumstances.3. To generate evidence on differing local and community-based attitudes to victims of sexual violence, and under what circumstances these allow for rehabilitation.4. To develop innovative local communication methods for transferring knowledge of successful protective measures.5. To generate programmatic lessons for aid agencies so that they can adapt protection programmes to support local measures.6. To generate policy lessons for aid agencies such that systemic approaches to protection can incorporate and support local action.This research aims to have conceptual impact and provide new understandings and tools to both communities and aid providers to reinforce protective measures. By identifying where such local measures have worked, and under what circumstances, the research will provide an evidence base for policy and practice. Further, the research will have impact as it builds networks and connectivity; it will design, with communities, ways of communicating these successes so they can be adapted and replicated in other contexts. The project has a strong intellectual core, but also addresses an important policy and practical question, as the global humanitarian community have struggled to understand community level dynamics and factor them into their programmes.