Growing the Sheltering Tree Growing the Sheltering Tree

C. Conscious Presence:The Strategic Implementation ofProgrammes to Promote Protection& Prevent ViolationsThe equation ‘presence equalsprotection’ does say the rightthing, but it doesn’t say enough.International presence alone willnot bring protection. Thepresence must be conscious,forceful, and courageous. It mustbe an engaged presence that isnot afraid to resist injustice andcruelty.– Bill Frelick,US Committee for RefugeesI am 100% sure that presence hasmade a difference.– Relief worker, AfghanistanI believe that 80% of the time Iam invited to go places withpeople just for the sake of mypresence with them.– Civil Affairs Officer, AfghanistanAs noted in the quote to the left, presence alone willnot provide protection. Conscious presence isrequired: presence that has the specific aim of preventingor reducing violations and that seeks to exploitwhat may be very narrow windows of opportunity.It should not be forgotten that just as humanitarianorganizations engage in ‘strategic planning’, so dothose who are participants in armed conflict or campaignsof violence. It is important to determine whatthe goals of the parties are and how this will affectpresence and protection activities in general.Humanitarians are unarmed and are morally committedto respect for international law – thoseengaging in abuses, on the other hand, do not placerestraints on their behaviour. For this reason, presencewill not always prevent violations. Those perpetratingviolations are often conscious that humanitarians arewitnesses and may limit access for this reason. Theymay deliberately attack humanitarian aid workers inorder to force the withdrawal of aid operations or mayotherwise manipulate the situation (by demandingpresence in one area while denying access to another,for example).The presence of international witnesses who fail toact may be taken as a sign of acceptance of violationsand may further embolden perpetrators, thereby furtherincreasing risk. It is critically important thatwould-be perpetrators are aware that some action willbe taken when they violate the law.Irrespective of the above caveats, people in dangerconfirm that presence is an essential protection tooland may have other benefits, such as preventing flightdue to panic and maintaining a sense of hope. Itseffectiveness as a protection strategy will vary accordingto time, place and circumstance, so it is importantto consider the specific situation at hand and planaccordingly.Peace Brigades International (PBI), which hasextensive experience in the use of presence throughthe protection strategy of accompaniment (physicalpresence with endangered persons) notes that giventhe limited resources available to many organizations,it is important to focus the work very carefully – howcan the most be gained from field presence? Accordingto one PBI expert, the only way is to select the majornodes of the social fabric of the community, and concentrateprotective efforts on them. These nodes areusually individuals (natural leaders, elders, etc.), bodies(internal or tribal councils, for example), ororganizations (NGOS providing support to those indanger). If an attacker hits these nodes, the protectionof the whole community is thrown into question. Butif these social structures are able to go ahead with theirintegrative work, probably the whole community willmove ahead, even if they suffer attacks or repression.This is a strategic and operative choice (of course, alllives, whether of leaders or ordinary citizens, areequally valuable). Obviously, it is not always easy toimplement this in daily work. For example, PBI providedround-the-clock presence in the PeaceCommunity of San José de Apartadó in Urabá,Colombia. It was impossible to protect the 2,000inhabitants – most of them IDPS – in the communityor to protect the entire perimeter. In an agreementwith the Peace Community, it was established that PBIwould provide international presence with a focus on42