CIVIC: Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict

We seek recognition and help for civilians caught in the crossfire of armed conflict from the warring parties themselves.

Every day, stories of civilian suffering appear in the news—from Iraq and Afghanistan to Gaza, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. You can imagine who these civilians are. Without their injuries and loss of loved ones, they had lives we would recognize as similar to our own with all the joys and trials of everyday life. Too often, these ordinary civilians lose it all in the blink of an eye and are left to mourn with no recognition and little help to recover.

Avoiding civilians in armed conflict is always the goal. Yet harm nevertheless occurs in war. Warring parties have no obligation under international laws to acknowledge the harm they cause nor to assist civilians in recovery. CIVIC believes this situation is unacceptable. CIVIC is changing that status quo by challenging warring parties to recognize and help civilians harmed the world over. Our message is simple, but groundbreaking: help where you have harmed.

Warring parties fully capable of providing amends do not often hear from the civilians they harm; they hear from CIVIC and they are listening.

How We Do It

1. In practice, we urge warring parties in real time to ensure civilian dignity and provide appropriate assistance to civilians they’ve harmed. [learn more about our Healing the Wounds program]

2. In principle, we are pressing for a new standard of behavior among warring parties of dignifying and offering assistance to the civilians they harm. This coalition effort and global movement is the Making Amends Campaign. [learn more about our Making Amends Campaign]

What can you do to help? [click here to find out]