Humanitarian Diplomacy Across Parallel Tracks: Aligning Protection of Civilians and Peace Processes

Protection of civilians and peace processes are often approached as separate tracks: one humanitarian and operational, the other political and strategic. In practice, however, they are deeply interconnected. Ceasefires, local agreements, return arrangements, and security guarantees can either reduce civilian harm or expose communities to new risks, while effective protection efforts can build trust, influence incentives, and create space for de-escalation and dialogue.  

This session will explore whether more deliberately linking Protection of Civilians to peace efforts risks politicizing humanitarian action, or whether it can instead make peace processes more responsive to the lived realities of affected populations. A central tension lies in humanitarian diplomacy. For states, it is often shaped by leverage and political priorities; for humanitarian actors, it is grounded in neutrality, access, and proximity to communities. 

While these approaches can be complementary, they frequently operate in parallel or in tension.  Drawing on CIVIC’s operational work with communities and armed actors, Interpeace’s “Track 6” approach, connecting local communities, civil society, governments, and international actors, IHEID’s research and policy expertise on peace processes and conflict dynamics, and the perspectives of government representatives the session will examine how these different forms of engagement can be better aligned in practice. 

It will ask how field-based protection insights can inform political processes before harm escalates, when state engagement strengthens or undermines protection, and how approaches should differ when engaging state forces, coalitions, or non-state armed actors. The session will clarify how these traditions of humanitarian diplomacy can interact to advance shared aims.