This guide gives essential advice and insights to humanitarian practitioners who are involved in providing safety and protecting vulnerable people in war and disaster. It provides a framework for responsibility and action, which helps clarify conceptual issues and helps humanitarian field workers position themselves vis-a-vis other actors who have overlapping mandates. A practical schema is also presented, which gives practical advice on how to think through the various elements of protection focused programming in four clear steps: assessment; programme design; implementation: monitoring and evaluation. The guide also outlines key principles of best practice for protection-focused humanitarian work.