In an ever-evolving global landscape, the dynamics of humanitarian work are constantly challenged and shaped by new realities. From acknowledging power imbalances and unconscious biases to embracing the essence of empathy and trust, humanitarians seek to navigate the delicate balance between procedural efficiency and the profound simplicity of human connection.

In this post, David Loquercio, ICRC’s Head of Accountability to Affected People, and Martin Schüepp, ICRC’s Director of Operations, examine the pivotal role of relationships and mindsets in the humanitarian sector, with a focused lens on the ICRC’s people-centric approach. Highlighting the importance of adaptability, multi-level accountability, and a genuine commitment to people-centric values, it prompts readers to reflect on the spirit that underpins the humanitarian movement ahead of a larger discussion due to take place during a learning event on 12-14 September 2023, People-centric humanitarian response in conflict: strategies, insights, and dilemmas.

People, principles, and processes: accountability in humanitarian action

In line with its mandate, the ICRC engages with all parties to an armed conflict, including non-state armed groups. The ICRC has a long history of confidential humanitarian engagement with armed groups to alleviate and prevent the suffering of persons living in areas controlled by these groups. However, this engagement has become increasingly complex. Accordingly, the ICRC undertakes an annual internal exercise to evaluate the status of its relationships with armed groups and to identify developments to strengthen its future engagement worldwide. In this post, ICRC Adviser Matthew Bamber-Zryd discusses some of the key findings from this exercise.

In 2023, the ICRC estimates that 195 million persons live in areas under the full or fluid control of armed groups. There are more than 450 armed groups of humanitarian concern worldwide and the ICRC’s engagement with these groups remains stable. Despite the ICRC’s successful contact with nearly two-thirds of armed groups worldwide, engagement with some groups remains challenging. These obstacles stem from a combination of state-imposed barriers, notably counter-terrorism legislation, and the precarious security environment prevailing in certain countries.

Read the full blog here: https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy

ICRC engagement with armed groups in 2023

Since the 7th of October, the world has witnessed a new and unimaginable wave of tragedy unfold across Israel and the occupied territories. As we pass the two-month mark of the intensification of this armed conflict, the armed violence continues to impact civilians minute by minute.

As our colleagues on the ground engage in an exceedingly challenging humanitarian context, faced with many challenges and obstacles, podcast host Elizabeth Rushing sat down with Cordula Droege, ICRC’s Chief Legal Officer to discuss how recent developments of this armed conflict are governed by international humanitarian law (IHL).

For more information: blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/hu…y-in-war-podcast/

Episode 16: Israel and the occupied territories: how international humanitarian law applies

The number of people displaced by natural disasters, conflict and other factors continues to grow. In 2023, 299 million people needed humanitarian assistance and protection, (10% more than at the end of 2022, according to the Global Humanitarian Overview 2024). Many of them are living with noncommunicable diseases, or NCDs, but until recently their specific needs were virtually ignored in planning for disaster relief and recovery. That is slowly changing.

From 27 to 29 February, UN Member States will meet at the Global high-level technical meeting on noncommunicable diseases in humanitarian settings. Organised by the World Health Organization and the UN refugee agency, the closed meeting in Copenhagen will assemble NCD, emergency, refugee, and health systems experts, along with UN agencies, academic bodies and non-state actors, all dedicated to strengthening the integration of NCDs in humanitarian responses.

Ahead of the meeting, NCD Alliance published the briefing paper, Neglected and in crisis: NCDs as a priority in humanitarian settings, which contains many recommendations on improving how NCDs can be better included in humanitarian responses. Today, we’re speaking with two people who will be closely watching the results of that meeting. Dr Catherine Karekezi is the executive director of the NCD Alliance Kenya, and Megan Sheridan is the Programme Manager of the Global Oncology Network of the US-based organisation Direct Relief.


'Voices of the Health Revolution' is a podcast series that shines a spotlight on the trailblazers who are leading bold action to protect our universal right to health - even when that means taking a stand against the big industries who threaten it.

Discover more about the Global Week for Action on NCDs: actonncds.org
#ActOnNCDs

Integrating NCDs in humanitarian settings

From traditional media to social media, coordinated information campaigns or operations, the ways in which harmful information can enable or aggravate risks of harm for civilians are constantly evolving. However, evidence of risk factors remains incomplete, and solutions elusive.

In this post, Chris Brew, a former Protection Associate with the ICRC, looks to previous examples of harmful information (often referred to as misinformation, disinformation and hate speech or “MDH”) resulting in civilian harm to identify patterns in underlying risk factors to inform when and in what circumstances civilian harm may result from such information.

From content to harm: how harmful information contributes to civilian harm

The Asia-Pacific region is diverse in religious, ethnic and historical backgrounds as well as in economic development. However, armed conflict is often not recognized by states in the region, and if it is, there is an expectation that they will address such issues internally. The region is also known for having the fewest ratifications of international humanitarian law (IHL) treaties. The Asia-Pacific region is nonetheless home to an active and growing group of academics and practitioners of IHL, which some refer to as “IHL ambassadors”. This group of people can draw on the historical underpinnings of IHL which derive from many traditions and religions still followed today in the region, as well as the understanding of the huge technological advances that are taking place here.

In this post, and in the run-up to the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions later this year, Jonathan Kwik, Ai Kihara-Hunt and Kelisiana Thynne examine the role that academics as “IHL ambassadors” play in the Asia-Pacific region and which they can play elsewhere in promoting, interpreting and developing IHL. They also consider the role that academic journals can play in enhancing the coverage of this important, and often overlooked, task.

From theology to technology: a call for IHL ambassadors in the Asia-Pacific region

There is today an idea of a single humanity, with each member equally valued, and a global legal framework exists to prevent needless human suffering, including in war. Dehumanization arises as the negation of a common, positive, and mutually supportive humanity, though there is no single definition, and it certainly predates its opposite. Research indicates that dehumanization increases the risk of conflict and violence, increases the risk of abuses therein, and makes it harder to resolve conflict.

In this post – an overview of a forthcoming article written in her personal capacity – Natalie Deffenbaugh posits mirror definitions of humanity and dehumanization and what they mean, especially in relation to conflict and violence. She looks at why and how dehumanization happens and the real-world harm that can result when espoused or tacitly condoned by those holding power. She closes with an overview of how humanity, in global legal frameworks and as a Fundamental Principle, can curb and push back against some of the worst that dehumanization can do.

De-dehumanization: practicing humanity

When the very first Geneva Convention was adopted in 1864, it was the culmination of several interwoven humanitarian projects of the ICRC’s principal founder, Henry Dunant. One of those ambitions was the conception, standardization, and integration into what would become known as international humanitarian law (IHL) of the distinctive emblem of the Convention. Designed to signal the specific protections IHL accords to the medical services and certain humanitarian operations, the emblem – today the red cross, red crescent, and red crystal – is displayed on different persons and objects in the physical world, including on buildings, transports, units, equipment, and personnel that are accorded these protections. Over its 160-year history, the distinctive emblem has saved countless lives.

Today, the ICRC is again engaged in a project to conceive, standardize, and integrate into IHL a means to identify those very same specific protections, but in a way the drafters of the original 1864 Geneva Convention could not have imagined: a digital emblem specifically designed to identify the digital assets of the medical services and certain humanitarian operations. In this post, building on previous work on this topic, ICRC Legal Adviser Samit D’Cunha summarizes some of the key milestones of the history and development of the distinctive emblem and explores how these milestones serve as a lodestone – or compass – for the Digital Emblem Project’s path forward.

Conceive, standardize, integrate: distinctive emblems and signs under IHL

Water and wastewater pipelines, electricity lines and telecommunication installations permeate contemporary urban landscapes and form complex, interdependent service networks, which populations rely on for their essential needs. Armed conflict can damage or disrupt these networks and the essential services they provide. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to protecting critical civilian infrastructure, yet addressing the humanitarian impact of essential service disruption requires a broader focus beyond physical infrastructure.   

In this post, the group of experts behind the newly released report “Keeping the Lights on and the Taps Running”, co-published by the ICRC and the Norwegian Red Cross, highlight the crucial yet often overlooked role of the personnel who operate, maintain, and repair essential service infrastructure during hostilities. They argue that protecting and facilitating safer access for essential service providers during armed conflict should be considered a key component of humanitarian action and review the Movement's experience in doing so.

Protecting essential service personnel is a vital part of humanitarian action

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

Humanity in War is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)'s humanitarian law and policy podcast. Hosted by Elizabeth Rushing, Humanity in War will consult cutting edge thinkers with one overarching question in mind: how can we better leverage international humanitarian law and policy to protect the lives and dignity of people affected by armed conflict and violence?

For questions and/or feedback, contact erushing@icrc.org or stxu@icrc.org.

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.

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