Over the past decade, the attention given to the monitoring and documenting of casualties in armed conflict, and other situations of human rights violations, has grown substantially. This has happened alongside developments in political attitudes and military policies concerning the protection of civilians in armed conflict. Technological innovations in this time have revolutionised the ways in which information on casualties can be gathered, verified, and disseminated.
As this emerging field continued to mature and diversify, Every Casualty Counts identified the need for greater clarity and agreement on some of the fundamental terminology. In particular, we observed that the interchangeable use of the terms ‘casualty recording’, ‘casualty tracking’, and ‘casualty counting’ was leading to confusion and controversy. In 2023 Every Casualty Counts instigated a consultation process with key actors working in this area, in an effort to codify a common definition and terminology for the main approaches to documenting and monitoring of casualties of armed violence.
The document we are publishing today provides a brief description of each approach, focusing on the features which distinguish them, and contains links to further detail and reading. These definitions have been developed and agreed by Every Casualty Counts, Bellica Consulting, CIVIC, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and PAX.
We hope this document will be a useful reference point, and welcome any feedback.
Image: Brett Jordan on Unsplash
