Over the past 16 months, incidents of civilian harm have called into question U.S. efforts to protect civilians in conflict.

In August, the Defense Department announced the development of a Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan, or CHMRAP, which solicited civil society inputs, including from InterAction, our Members, and other NGO partners. To see these efforts through, it was important to have Congressional support. Last week, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which included several provisions advancing priorities to protect civilians in armed conflict.