Topic: Protecting Civilians in Conflict Zones
Country: Nigeria
Delegate Name: Jack Hanley
School: Mattawan High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Nigeria position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
Civilians have been an unnecessary casualties of wars, and acts of violence for too long. Protection of civilians is a topic of great importance to many countries, especially those with refugee influxes and those with civilians at risk. Civilian protection as a necessity has grown exponentially as terrorist organizations have begun utilizing guerilla tactics to provide a more damaging effect on the countries they oppose. Protection of people, especially women and children in conflict zones has been less than what an international standard for protection should be. Action needs to be taken to stop the injustice that is seen on such a wide international spectrum. Attacks on civilians force people out of their homes in forced displacement, it provides sexual violence for the aggressors when targeting civilians, it demands for children to be dragged out of their homes and be conscripted as child soldiers, mass killings of people indiscriminately, people starving due to lack of resources, and ways to provide them with such. Civilians are targeted as hostages and martyrs for terrorist groups across the globe. One of those terrorist groups, Boko Haram, has set its focus on Nigeria. Nigerian terrorism has been a problem for more than sixteen years. Boko Haram has been causing trouble for the Nigerian people in Borno and Yobe, by kidnapping, killing, bombing, and destroying Nigerian people, buildings, cities, and vehicles. Boko Haram even went so far as to bomb the UN headquarters set in Nigeria. Nigeria has had a large number of people in conflict zones and has been doing everything in its power to keep the citizens affected by terror attacks and civilian brutality at a minimum but there is a limit to what a government can do for its citizens without taking action. Nigeria cannot face the threat of civilian protection without also facing the threat of what causes the attacks and danger for its citizens. The solution to the problem dealing with protecting civilians in conflict zones is a simple one, find a way to eliminate the conflict zones. So long as terror exists, civilians will not be safe, no matter how far from a conflict zone they may manage to flee, the easiest solution, the best solution is to find a way to eradicate the causes to the conflict zones in the first place. Keeping people safe in not only a requirement but a necessity, but how can we hope to keep our citizens safe from danger when danger lives within the minds of people as a whole? Wiping out the monsters who choose to target civilians in the first place is the best solution to keep citizens safe in the first place. The easiest way for the problem to be solved is to dig it up at its roots, and fight the problem of protecting people by fighting against the danger civilians need protection of in the first place.
