Casualty recording is included as an essential tool of peace operations in the newly published Protection of Civilians in UN Peacekeeping handbook, (United Nations Department of Peace Operations, ‘DPO’). The handbook aims to translate the principles of DPO’s Policy on Protection of Civilians in UN Peacekeeping into a practical guide for civilian, police and military pesonnel deployed in peacekeeping operations. It also brings together best practice and experience from a wide range of missions and contexts.
Casualty recording is described in the handbook as an important tool for predicting and understanding the changing threats to civilians, for informing evidence-based advocacy with perpetrators of violence, for decision-making on deployment of UN forces, for accountability and evaluation, and for peacebuilding purposes. The handbook provides basic guidance on casualty recording principles and practice, and includes reference to the Standards on Casualty Recording.
