The discussion will be a taking stock of Helen Durham's last eight years as Director of International Law & Policy at the ICRC, reflecting on law and policy evolutions during her mandate and laying out the issues and challenges that lie ahead. We will also touch up on a personal look at her broader career in international law and her advice for young professionals.

Episode 2: Humanitarian law and policy - a reflection with Helen Durham

Worldwide, millions of people are already facing the harsh reality of climate and environmental crises, which act as a risk magnifier and compound the impacts of other global economic, health and food crises. Launched by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in 2021, the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations guides the sectoral approach to the increasing risks of climate change and how to address its own carbon and environmental footprint.

In this post, Dr. Alistair D. B. Cook, Coordinator of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief for the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, draws from discussions during a recent workshop co-hosted by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and the Movement on the state of play in climate action for humanitarian actors operating in Southeast Asia and the role the Charter has played so far in addressing current and future crises.

Climate change, environment and humanitarian action in Southeast Asia

Next week marks the 75th anniversary of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. Against a backdrop of over 120 armed conflicts worldwide, this should prompt us not to celebrate, but to reflect: how were these now universally accepted humanitarian norms drafted, and are they still fit for purpose today?

In this post, ICRC Legal Adviser Ellen Policinski examines how the Geneva Conventions are interpreted and applied today, providing concrete examples from the ICRC’s updated Commentaries. She goes on to investigate the recurring critique that international humanitarian law (IHL) is somehow outdated, examining who benefits from the narrative that the Geneva Conventions and IHL more generally are not appropriate legal tools to govern armed conflicts today.

War’s long legacy: the continued importance of the Geneva Conventions 75 years later

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies brings significant opportunities, and risks, for principled humanitarian action. While AI innovations advance at a pace that seemingly defies human capabilities to manage them responsibly, humanitarian organizations are chasing ‘AI for Good’, and struggling to find effective safeguards.

In this post, ICRC Senior Policy Adviser Pierrick Devidal reflects on some of the lessons from the ICRC’s experience in building its recently adopted AI Policy, with the hope that it can inform other efforts to build an ethical and responsible approach to the use of AI in the humanitarian sector.

Trying to square the circle: the ICRC AI Policy

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality. Proclaimed in Vienna in 1965, they were born not as abstract ideals but as the direct result of over a hundred years of humanitarian action. They have enabled aid to cross frontlines, families to be reunited, and hope to reach places of despair. Yet today, the world in which they must operate is under extraordinary strain: conflicts drag on for years, humanitarian workers face record levels of attack, climate shocks compound existing crises, digitalization reshapes the battlefield, and politicization erodes the fragile space where help can reach those who need it most. The human consequences of war remain devastatingly constant, and the Principles- that have guided the Movement since 1965 are under growing pressure.

In this post, ICRC’s Director General Pierre Krähenbühl reflects on the enduring relevance and importance of the Fundamental Principles in a rapidly shifting world. He argues that they are not self-sustaining ideals to be admired from afar, but living commitments that must be exercised and defended. Drawing on his three decades of humanitarian work, he makes the case that the Principles resist the dangerous normalization of war, safeguard access to people in need, and fuel the courage necessary to channel indignation into lifesaving action. At sixty, the Principles will only remain vital if we choose to live them, and in so doing, keep humanity alive in the darkest of times.

Sixty years on: why the Fundamental Principles must be lived, not just remembered

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Humanitarian Law & Policy blog is a unique space for timely analysis and debate on international humanitarian law (IHL) issues and the policies that shape humanitarian action.

Sixty years on: why the Fundamental Principles must be lived, not just remembered

ICRC Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog

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