In April 2025, PAX and Airwars launched the Civilian Protection Monitor (CPM): the first public framework for monitoring state policy and practice on the protection of civilians from their own military actions. CPM aims to push for stronger protection approaches by states through the power of accountability, transparency, and collective action. Through in-depth analysis of publicly available documents, it aims to provide reliable and independent analysis of state efforts to protect civilians in conflict, identifying the main gaps and the steps needed to address these.
The framework and corresponding website have been the result of several years’ work. PAX collaborated on this with Airwars, a UK-based monitoring organization. PAX’s formal involvement in CPM has since ended, but Airwars is continuing this work.
The framework and resulting analyses
CPM consists of two main components. The first is the development of a public evaluation framework that encompasses a range of categories and indicators through which state policy and performance on several key civilian protection issues can be independently assessed and monitored, using open-source information. This framework is publicly available, and other civil society actors or government actors are encouraged to use this. It is based, with its permission, on a tool previously developed by the NGO Center for Civilians in Conflict.
The second component of CPM is the implementation of the framework itself on three countries: the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Ultimately, CPM’s aim is to expand its geographical coverage. The resulting country assessment reports are available under ‘News & publications’ and on the CPM website.
The CPM website
The Civilian Protection Monitor has its own website, where you can find all information and publications related to the project, and can get in touch with current staff working on it.
Search
