Joined-up Government

The National Action Plan sets out what Australia will do, at home and overseas, to integrate a gender perspective into its peace and security efforts, protect women and girls’ human rights, and promote their participation in conflict prevention, management and resolution. ACMC has a role in the design and implementation of this plan.

Following on from the ACMC Australian Guidelines for the Protection of Civilians (2015) this handbook aims to provide the ‘what’, the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of protecting civilians in violent contexts and is intended for people working at the operational level including government, NGOs, UN and other organisations.

This document affirms the principles that guide the Australian Government and its stakeholders in international multiagency response efforts. It captures the best of the learning that has come from the Australian experience of contemporary operations overseas.

The purpose of this report is to identify the lessons learned and emerging best practices of UN Member States committed to the implementation of this agenda through National Action Plans (NAPs).

In August 2014, the United Nations (UN) Security Council declared the Ebola virus outbreak in the West African subregion a ‘threat to international peace and security’. The UN’s request for assistance from member states resulted in the mobilisation of technical expertise, medical capacity, humanitarian assistance, and military and civil defence assets.

Over the past two decades, Australia has accumulated considerable experience with whole-of-government missions in complex environments, including in the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.