Attachments
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this Guidance is to provide recommendations to Protection Cluster partners regarding protection service provision to former (or ex) combatants, and was developed to respond to requests received from Protection Cluster partners. This Guidance briefly describes humanitarian principles (including how these result in the general rule that the provision of humanitarian assistance should be limited to civilian populations), aligns International Humanitarian Law terminology on combatants with domestic law, identifies the point at which an individual is no longer considered a combatant, describes the documents that confirm that a person is discharged from military service and is therefore a civilian that may be eligible for protection assistance, and provides a list of services for veterans and their families that should be used by humanitarian protection partners for referrals. This Guidance will be updated on a regular basis in order to reflect changes in legislation and lessons learned from its implementation.
For support in implementing this Guidance, please contact: Kasia Kot-Majewska (kotmajew@unhcr.org), Tetiana Luzan (t.luzan@r2p.org.ua) or Oleksandra Makovska (makovska@unhcr.org).