Zaporizhzhya Protection Project
The organization Nonviolent Peaceforce explains unarmed civilian protection (UCP) as:
…a strategic mix of key nonviolent engagement methods, principles, values, and skills. Specially trained civilians, in close coordination with local actors, apply UCP to prevent violence, provide direct physical protection to civilians under threat, and strengthen local peace infrastructures.
UCP is thus not a single strategy or technique, but various modes of engaging nonviolently in conflict situations. Despite receiving relatively little press and a tiny fraction of the funding that militaries get, UCP has been shown to be both effective and inexpensive in violent crises across the globe. Given the concrete evidence available, there can be no denying that UCP is a powerful force which offers a genuine alternative to violent response within areas of active conflict.
In this episode of Uniting Nations, John Reuwer from World BEYOND War shares an example of UCP at work in one of the deadliest, most violent conflicts in the world today: the war in Ukraine. While NATO and independent governments continue to increase military aid to both sides, the Zaporizhzhya Protection Project is endeavoring to end the war from an entirely different angle, that is, by training volunteers to support the UN’s efforts to ensure that the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant remains undisturbed by the conflict.
The danger posed by the power plant is enormous – even a small misstep, one missile misfired could lead to a global disaster. And the potential devastation the world faces given a war between two nuclear powers cannot be overestimated. Increasing the availability of arms to either side is a move in the wrong direction. Einstein famously said that ‘no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.’ The use of nonviolent tactics – like UCP used by the Zaporizhzhya Protection Project – is a move to a higher level of consciousness. And it is one that has been proven, time and again, to work.
