Understanding Community-level Spontaneous Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP): A Comparative Study of Initiatives in South Sudan, Myanmar and Colombia

Our project, funded by the Creating Safer Space Network through AHRC, explores a less known aspect of UCP, what we term spontaneous UCP, referring to community-level UCP initiatives by local actors that are carried out ‘spontaneously’ in response to local conditions without any pre-emptive support from specialist INGOs. More specifically, we seek to understand the nature and character of local nonviolent actors engaging in spontaneous UCP; how the contexts shape, support and constrain spontaneous UCP activities; the evolution relationships, networks and coalitions these local actors form in order to protect others; exploring these factors across Myanmar, Colombia and South Sudan.

The project seeks to explore how civilians and local organisations protect other civilians in the context of armed conflict, in a concept known as unarmed civilian protection.

Ongoing