STAND must choose between conflicts to devote resources and effort to protect the most civilians

How can we make these difficult choices?

I. Identify systematic efforts, deliberate targeting to kill civilians, severe torture, or rape on a massive scale.

II. Discover the perpetrator's degree of harm and capability.

Level 1. Harm to combatants/political leadership
Level 2. Some impact on civilians, political opponents, but largely minimizes civilian casualties
Level 3. Indifference to impact on large civilian population
Level 4. Tactical killing of civilians
Level 5. Tactically mobilizing essentialist motives of some
Level 6. Essentialist motives of primary killers

III. Measure the affect and scale of the conflict.

Very Small. Under 100 civilian fatalities, under 1,000 displaced
Small. 100-500 civilian fatalities, 1,000-10,000 displaced
Moderate. 150-250 civilian fatalities, 10,000-50,000 displaced
Large. 250-1,000 civilian fatalities, 50,000-100,000 displaced
Very Large. 1,000+ civilian fatalities, 100,000+ displaced

References
STAND Blog, Trivia and Discussion: Prioritizing Conflicts, May 2010

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